Jonathan Spath

www.jonathanspath.com
@jonathanspath

Jonathan Spath is a fine art photographer balancing his creative time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Portland, Maine. Jonathan holds two master’s degrees in education from the University of Massachusetts in Boston and a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Jonathan also earned a certificate of photographic study from the Rhode Island School of Design after which he exhibited two solo photography exhibits: one at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston in 2009, titled Photographs of Stone and the Math Within, and at the Griffin Museum of Photography in 2010, titled Romancing ∑tone. Jonathan’s work has been exhibited at various galleries in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Santa Fe, and is held in private collections throughout New England. Jonathan anticipates earning his Master of Fine Arts degree from Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, Maine, May 2026. Capturing the new sublime in the present day, Jonathan explores how one navigates the boundary between the environment and technology in the interest of sustainability. He harnesses his lifelong experiences to investigate new ways of considering the sublime in the present day through both analog and digital processes.


Light Intervention
Within the boundary of technology and the environment lies ethical responsibilities of the individual and society. The boundary set by layering artificial projections onto the landscape is like a frame, a place of restriction. It is also a place of negotiation and compromise. Making positive ethical decisions when living in that often-ambiguous boundary within our society is of utmost importance. Such visual polarity between artificial light and landscape emphasizes the tension and anxiety we feel living at that crossroads and highlights the great importance of maintaining and preserving the environment in the interest of sustainability. Embedded in my work is an argument for the new sublime in the present day that extends beyond environmental power such as weather and grandiosity of place. The new sublime arises from the power of unrestricted technology and its relationship to the environment. In this work, I highlight that fine, grey line under constant flux. On the outside, it may seem defined, but when one looks more closely, that relationship is blurred, sometimes blending, sometimes not, yet bound by the ethical consideration involved. The photographs lead the viewer into asking: How does one navigate this boundary; how does one function within it in a positive way?