EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS

John Elliott’s photographs have been exhibited since 1973 in group and solo shows in the Middle East, South America, and throughout the USA — including New York City, Ohio, Florida, and Georgia.

“The Human Pulse” international photography series is currently on exhibition at Central Florida’s premier cultural center, The Appleton Museum of Art (right and below). This is largest solo exhibition of the ongoing series photographed in 32 countries to date. The world-class gallery is featuring 42 photographs from the series. From June 2025 through January 2026, it is up for a seven-month duration – an unprecedented honor.

John D. Elliott at The Appleton Museum.

After touring this exhibition, Dr. Barbara Fife, director of the Chelsea Art Center, said, “…his photographic series speaks to the viewer on so many levels. There is, of course, the strong message of the common bond of humanity that transcends geographical boundaries and cultures. The 42 photographs in this exhibit are culled from John’s much larger collection of images captured in 32 countries, but a few locations will definitely surprise you, taken here in the USA! True photographers will appreciate John’s patience, waiting for the perfect moment to freeze interactions and nuances of a setting while he watches from a higher vantage point. Each photo tells a riveting story but also engages the viewer to question what they are witnessing.”

Opened in 1987, the Appleton is located in Ocala, now the fastest growing city in the USA. The museum is home to an extraordinary permanent collection of over 24,000 objects, plus outdoor sculptures, and hosts a wide variety of temporary exhibitions and special events throughout the year. Treasures includes art from Europe, pre-Columbian objects, Asian and African holdings, Modern and Contemporary works. Architecturally classical and contemporary, the museum is an award-winning design surrounding an idyllic interior courtyard and fountain. Solo exhibit at Callanwolde Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, 2007

When “The Human Pulse,” photographic series debuted at Atlanta’s renowned Callanwolde Gallery in 2007 (right), it was met by broad public acclaim and positive reviews. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote “the exhibit reminds us of great photographic traditions.” This ongoing series encompasses both impactful and meditative images of human diversity from around the world. Its synergy is enhanced through both sequencing and pairings.

Elliott, whose influences range from the medieval paintings of Hieronymus Bosch to 20th century photography of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson, began his photographic career at age 14 as a freelance newspaper photographer in south Florida, USA. While still in college, he became a published photojournalist for the Latin American magazine GeoMundo, covering indigenous cultures in Mexico and Guatemala in 1979 and 1980.

Selected prints from the series were honored in 2008 to be part of a permanent collection at Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta. The preëminent exposition venue of Atlanta and the southeastern USA this gallery has for more than thirty years exhibited cutting-edge paintings, sculpture and photography. Elliott’s images joined portfolios of internationally renowned photographers such as Imogen Cunningham, Jerry Ullsman, Margaret Bourke-White, Herb Ritts, Jaques Lartigue, and George Tice. In an interview, Gold’s high regard was encapsulated in her statement, “John’s work is comparable to Henri Cartier-Bresson, in that they both strive to capture the decisive moment“.

2009 saw Elliott’s work exhibited at a number of galleries in the USA. These included a solo show of 24 photographs at the Turner Art Center in Valdosta. Here, he also gave a widely-attended public lecture on the genesis and evolution of the series. Later that year, ten images from the series were selected by Atlanta Photography Group to be one of a select group of images honored in their show, “Contemporary Southern Photographers,” juried by the University of Arizona’s Center of Creative Photography. For this, just 43 prints were selected from nearly one-thousand submitted by fine arts photographers throughout the southern USA. Also that year, Elliott’s images were also selected by the Museum of Contemporary Art for their seminal exhibit, “Movers and Shakers of the American Art Scene”.

The Human Pulse series was honored in its contemporary entirety in 2013 by a solo show at the prestigious gallery at the Academia Brasileira de Letras in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (two panorama photos below). Exhibited as well were Elliott’s “Walls/Spaces” Series, which debuted 45 images, representing 16 countries and more than 30 years of photography. The gallery curator, Alexei Bueno, requested and received permission to extend the 72-image exhibition from three to six weeks. In his follow-up document, he remarked: “…the refinement of his technique — from a fine sensitivity to lights and shadows, to the texture — all combine with the invariable precision of the composition, making each one of his photographs an object of aesthetic pleasure…for the deep meaning these beautiful images carry at their core.”

In 2016, photographs from The Human Pulse and Walls/Spaces were exhibited at the Arabian Wings Gallery in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; four prints were subsequently accepted into the permanent collection there. Since its foundation in 2006, Arabian Wings has been regarded as an art benchmark for the Middle East and a supporter of contemporary culture.

From 2017 to 2020, Elliott focused on his increasingly demanding diplomatic career, worked on the “Ghost Riders,” series, and published two books of his photography. In late 2021, just after retiring from his career as a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. State Department, Elliott embarked on a three-week trip to Cuba. Here, he would deliver food and medicines for his humanitarian organization, AidWEST Missions and create new images for The Human Pulse and Walls/Spaces series, as well as to document through photojournalism the island nation’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of his writings and photographs were published in the international magazine, Fair Observer, in 2022.

“Hooded Dreams” (2020)

“Madonna with iPhone” (2019)

In April of 2024, John Elliott’s “Ghost Riders” Series was debuted in a group show hosted by the Ocala Art Group at the Leesburg Center for the Arts, in Central Florida, USA. Elliott further evolved these images by applying them to a wood background via an encaustic wax process on imported rice paper. The “Ghost Riders” Series (2017-2020) is an introspective series Elliott photographed and digitally enhanced starting just prior to the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. The photographs tell a story of daily labor and the challenges of land travel, are empathetic to the quotidian experiences of sleep-deprived, uncomfortable, and distracted passengers riding Washington DC public transportation such as commuter trains and subways.

The Chelsea Art Center (CAC) Gallery in Ocala, Florida was the venue of another of Elliott’s recent exhibitions, this time a one-man show with 37 key images from both The Human Pulse and Walls/Spaces series (below). From October, 2023 through January, 2024, the exhibition received extensive attention in the burgeoning fine arts community and media outlets. Opened in 2022, the Chelsea Art Center is a maker’s haven. With three spacious exhibition rooms, a fine arts and art history library, and a venue hosting dozens of art classes in myriad media, it has become a mecca for learning and experiencing the visual arts. Barbara Fife, director and owner, is a retired educator who holds a Doctorate in Education from the University of Michigan.

Elliott with CAC owner, Dr. Barbara Fife

Dr. Fife noted of Elliott’s work, “He captures the human spirit and spectrum of emotion in ‘The Human Pulse’ series. Each photo tells an engaging story and the location is often surprising and incidental to the expressive shared moment. ‘Walls/Spaces’ is a captivating collection and demonstrates an artist’s way of seeing that elevates his photos of commonplace scenes to memorable works of art.”

EXHIBITION DOCUMENTATION:

North and East walls, Appleton Museum exhibition of “The Human Pulse” series, 2025-26

The series is arranged palindromically at the Appleton Museum, 2025-26

Explanatory video presentation is looped in a kiosk at the Appleton Museum, 2025-26

North wall, one of the two entry points, Appleton Museum, 2025-26

Appleton Museum, 2025-26
Appleton Museum, 2025-26
Appleton Museum, 2025-26
Appleton Museum, 2025-26
Appleton Museum, 2025-26
Appleton Museum, 2025-26
Appleton Museum, 2025-26
Appleton Museum, 2025-26
John Elliott at his Appleton Museum exhibition, June 21, 2025.
John provided introductry remarks at the open of his exhibition at Chelsea Art Center, October, 2023.
Chelsea Art Center, 2023: Exhibition Opening October, 2023
Chelsea Art Center, 2023
Chelsea Art Center, 2023: Younger daughter Dianna (right) took some photos during the event with her new digital camera.
Chelsea Art Center, 2023: Exhibition Opening October, 2023
Chelsea Art Center, 2023: Exhibition Opening October
Chelsea Art Center, 2023
Chelsea Art Center, 2023
Chelsea Art Center, 2023
Chelsea Art Center, 2023: Dianna cheerfully assisted in the exhibition set-up and photographic coverage of the opening.