All of April
Matthew Westbrook began taking photographs as a 16-year-old, using his father’s 1950s-era Voigtländer camera to capture images of the Potomac River and the environmental challenges it faced. A decade later, he spent nearly half a year traveling through the U.S. national park system, documenting its myriad landscapes on slide film, which he continued shooting for 20 years before switching to digital. In 2016 he began focusing on insect photography, creating a book titled Floating Figures to celebrate and call attention to insects found on the surface of a suburban swimming pool. Perhaps inevitably—once he had added a 100–400 mm telephoto lens to his kit—he became fascinated with birds and other wildlife and spent much of the pandemic walking Baltimore-Washington area trails, including those in the Patuxent Research Refuge.
Many of the photographs in this exhibit are the result of those wanderings.
In the past three years, he has produced three additional fine-art photo books: Double Visions (2022), Leavings (2023), and Out There (2024).
Westbrook attended the University of Maryland, College Park, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in English, leading to a 40-year career as a writer and editor. A widely published poet, his literary honors include nomination for a Pushcart Prize and two Individual Artist awards from the Maryland State Arts Council.
Please join Matthew Westbrook to celebrate spring at the refuge with a reception in the John Hollingsworth Gallery from 1:30 to 3:30 pm on Saturday, April 5, 2025. All are welcome to attend and enjoy his art. Light refreshments will be provided.