John Chester Cato was an Australian photographer and teacher.
33 Facts About John Cato
1.
2.
John Cato held that position until 1950 when he became a photographer and assistant for Athol Shmith Pty Ltd.
3.
Nevertheless John Cato moved away from commercial photography in 1974 after experiencing what he described as "a kind of menopause".
4.
Shortly after leaving his partnership with Athol Shmith, John Cato began his teaching career and started to focus on fine art photography.
5.
John Cato was one of the first photographers in Melbourne to give up their commercial practice to become a fine art photographer.
6.
In 1970, four years before leaving his commercial practice, John Cato began exploring photography as an art form.
7.
John Cato made 'straight' landscape photographs usually with large or medium-format cameras in order to "explore the elements of the landscape", usually enhancing these in printing.
Related searches
Athol Shmith 8.
Over a ten-year period, John Cato spent two years at a time focusing on a particular symbolic theme in the Australian landscape, often spending a large amount of time in the wilderness observing the conditions and waiting for the perfect opportunity.
9.
John Cato's work was deeply considered and clearly showed his unique perspective on the natural elements around us.
10.
John Cato used symbolism in his work, the consciously constructed image being an interest among 1970s photographers, young and experienced, including his colleague Paul Cox.
11.
John Cato is not content to see himself merely as an 'artist' or a 'photographer.
12.
In each sequence, John Cato explored the expression of nature and creation, which he saw as the physical representation of his own life experiences and philosophy.
13.
John Cato began his teaching career in 1974 at Prahran College of Advanced Education which became known as Melbourne's most innovative art school, where he worked full-time.
14.
John Cato took up a position at Roger Hayne's newly established Impact School of Photography before being again offered work at Prahran later in 1975.
15.
Between 1977 and 1979 John Cato contributed to the foundation of Photography Studies College from the Impact school, and concurrently lectured there until becoming full-time head of the photography department at Prahran.
16.
John Cato was a passionate and generous teacher and was highly regarded by his students and peers.
17.
John Cato described himself as being "duty bound" to share his experience with students and colleagues, and they benefitted from his close knowledge of the history of Australian photography attained as he assisted his father in research for The Story of the Camera in Australia, and in meeting its protagonists.
18.
John Cato preferred to use large and medium format cameras in his own work for the higher resolution that they offered and when taking students on excursions, he insisted they use the same instead of 35mm SLR cameras that they more commonly used, so that the more technical view camera would force students to think before they pressed the shutter and pre-visualise their photograph, rather than to 'blaze away' with expendable roll film.
19.
John Cato strongly believed in photography as a form of individualised expressionism, a view that was shared and supported by Athol Shmith, who was one of the first to teach photography as a creative course in the late 1960s.
20.
John Cato exhibited his work with other photographers in 30 group exhibitions until 2003, the earliest being in 1964 at Blaxland Gallery in Sydney, and in 20 solo exhibitions in Australian and international galleries before his death in 2011.
21.
John Cato's work is held in numerous gallery collections across Australia including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Albury Regional Art Gallery, Deakin University, Tasmanian Art Gallery and Melbourne State College.
22.
John Cato belongs in the National Gallery, in the high echelons and I think this is a very wonderful first step.
23.
John Cato's photographs reveal the truth behind the facade of outward appearances, as few other art forms can.
24.
The harsh textures, knotty distortions and dramatic chiaroscuro effects which John Cato captures in his trees and rocks give way, in his Sea-Wind Series, to a more lyrical and softly sensuous imagery, that in the textural contrasts of air, sand, water, shells and sinuous.
25.
John Cato has made an inestimable contribution to photography in this state as a teacher.
Related searches
Athol Shmith 26.
John Cato finds perfect objective correlatives to his private inner states in the darkness and light, solidity ad softness, and infinite variety of pattern in tree trunks, clouds and rock faces.
27.
John Cato had a wonderful heart; he was tender for a man.
28.
Nevertheless, John Cato was known for being a modest photographer who never intended fame for himself or his work, which was its own reward.
29.
Consequently, and from a strong dislike of publicity, John Cato issued his final work under pseudonyms, characteristically exhibiting his valedictory exhibition as 'Pat and Chris Noone'.
30.
John Cato served on an advisory group formed in 1969 during the establishment of the gallery's new Photography Department and oversaw the appointment of the first curator of photography in Australia, Jennie Boddington in 1972.
31.
Over his career, John Cato was active in national and international networking amongst the photographic and art education fields.
32.
John Cato was honoured with numerous awards including Fellow at the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers and Honorary Doctor of Arts at RMIT University.
33.
John Cato was awarded two grants, one a Visual Arts Board Travel Grant in 1985 and the other a Research and Development Grant from Victoria College in 1990.