John Shuman remembers his first camera well, a little Brownie. He started making memories of family get-togethers with a Kodak Instamatic and capturing people and scenery in the beautiful Pennsylvania mountains he called “home” while earning a bachelor’s degree in hotel management.

With his new bride, Amy, Lieutenant Shuman traveled to Vicenza, Italy, in 1971, where he purchased a Nikon and enjoyed the wonder of the canals of Venice, operas in the Verona arena, including Aida complete with live elephants, street vendors in Florence, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome etc. On a special mission to what was then Belgrade, Yugoslavia, he and Amy stopped by Lippica, to enjoy the Lippinzaner stallions and mares.

Returning stateside after three years, John fondly recalls attending the Nikon School of Photography, in Norfolk, Va. in 1975. The students viewed 4 slide projectors, 80 slides in each carousel, synchronized to the music, “Dueling Banjo’s” to prove what happens when photographers are sent out to take interesting shots of “there’s nothing to do in Biloxi, Mississippi!!”

John offers his photography services in “catching the magic of the moment” for family celebrations, business occasions and homestead portraits. He believes in giving clients casual, natural, un-enhanced photos. John simply crops and enlarges to share the beauty he saw while taking the original photograph.

John is now specializing in contemporary “fine art” photography. He concentrates on various aspects of “shapes, forms & motion.” His photography is evolving as he sees the world with a different eye everyday.

John’s work is shown in the revolving gallery at Rocky Gap Lodge and Resort and Arts at Canal Place Gallery in Cumberland, MD. He occasionally exhibits at the Saville Gallery, the Tri-State Community Health Center in Cumberland and at the Bedford Arts Council in Bedford, Pa.