Portrait by Mustapha El Basri
“I was the baby in the studio, and lived in their bottle of photography. Finding my own voice as an artist allowed me to escape the craziness of our family business. Perhaps, as an artist trapped in a photographer’s body.”
John Hesketh (b.1955) is an artist based in Laguna Niguel, California. Interested in the photograph’s ability to interpret performance and its remanence during the extended moment of a long exposure or multiple exposures. John often works in front of the camera to perform with light source in hand, to explore his relationship to family, community and our rituals of belonging.
The seeds of John’s photographic knowledge were planted in his family’s studio, started by his mother and father the day he was born. More recently his life includes 30 years of teaching photography, working with other artists to print their photographic editions, while creating and maintaining his own long term art projects.
His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. His art is found in many public and private collections.
Permanent Collections
Département des Estampes et de la Photographie, Bibliothèque nationale de France
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Ville de Paris (Paris AudioVisual)
California Museum of Photography, University California, Riverside
Principal Financial, Des Moines, Iowa
Solo Exhibitions
Point of View Gallery, The Los Angeles Project, Santa Ana, CA, January - February, 2025
A Smith Gallery, Los Angeles (revisited), Photographic Performances, Johnson City, TX, Sept, 2024
UC Riverside Extension Campus at San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside, CA, Nov – Mar, 2009
California Museum of Photography, UC at Riverside, Los Angeles, Riverside, CA, May – Sept, 2008
Photography Galleries of Orange Coast College, New Orleans, Costa Mesa, CA, Oct – Nov, 2004
Photography Gallery of Orange Coast College, Los Angeles, Costa Mesa, CA, Nov – Dec, 1996
Prague House of Photography, HomeLife, Beyond the Backyard, Prague, Czech Republic, April 1 – April 27, 1993
Canon Image Center, HomeLife, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 25 – Aug 14, 1992
Photography Gallery of Orange Coast College, HomeLife, Costa Mesa, CA, Sept 4 – Oct 1, 1991
Rizzoli Gallery, HomeLife, Costa Mesa, CA, March 15 – April 16, 1990
Note: New Orleans series is an ongoing project that has been renamed Our Rituals of Belonging in 2023
Note: HomeLife series was expanded and renamed Cul-de-sac in 2010
Group Exhibitions
Coastline Art Gallery, The Presence of Absence, Newport Beach, CA, June 11 - July 17, 2025
Point of View Gallery, The Presence of Absence, Santa Ana, CA, December, 2024
LightBox Photographic Gallery, Forever Analog, Juror - Michael Kirchoff, Seduction, Astoria, OR, Aug-Oct, 2024
PhotoPlace Gallery, Abstraction, Juror - Janet Jeffers, Maelstrom, Middlebury, VT, August, 2024
Los Angeles Center for Photography, Conflict, Juror - Anne Massoni, Spark, Los Angeles, CA, July-Sept, 2024
Praxis Gallery, Home, Last Christmas,Minneapolis, MN, Jan-Feb, 2024
Praxis Gallery, Abstract Photography, Juror - Ellen Jantzen, Anonymous, Minneapolis, MN, July, 2023
Griffin Museum of Photography, Under the Mask, Juror: Lisa Volpe, Seduction, Winchester, MA, April-May, 2023
Mesa College Art Gallery, Size Matters, Juror-C. Meier ,Los Angeles (revisited), San Diego, CA, April, 2023
Rhode Island Center for Photography, Black & White & all the Grays, Juror - Eric Kunsman, Seduction, Providence, RI, Nov, 2022
Southeast Center for Photography, The Abstract Image, Juror - Adam Finkleston, Anonymous, Greenville, SC, May, 2022
Southeast Center for Photography, Conversations with the Archive, Juror - Aline Smithson, Dad with Cigarette, Greenville, SC, April, 2022
A Smith Gallery, Juror - Aline Smithson, Entanglement, Johnson City, TX, Feb-Mar, 2022
Southeast Center for Photography, Juror - Terri Bright, Los Angeles(revisited), Greenville, SC, Dec 2021 - Jan 2022
Doyle Art Pavilion, Orange Coast College, What will remain, Curated by Tyler Stallings, Ring of Fire installation, Costa Mesa, CA, Jan - Mar, 2021
Perspective Gallery, LENS 2020 International, Juror - Catherine Edelman, Stucco Moments 19+27, Evenston, IL, Jan-Mar, 2020
Center for Fine Art Photography, Passage, Abstract, Passage, Fort Collins, CO, Nov - Dec, 2018
John Wayne Airport, Surrealism, HomeLife, Santa Ana, CA, April – May, 2010
California Museum of Photography, UC Riverside, Dog Days of Summer, May – Sept, 2004
BC Space Gallery, Banned, curated by Mark Chamberlain, Pinks, Laguna Beach, CA, 2002
John Wayne Airport, New Orleans, Santa Ana, CA, 2001
Riverside Art Museum, Time is of the Essence, Riverside, CA, 1999
Contemporary Photography International, HomeLife, Haarlem, The Netherlands, 1998
Cypress College Photo Gallery, Substance of Light, curated by Jerry Burchfield, Archangel installation, Cypress, CA, 1998
Riverside Art Museum, Trompe l 'oeil and the Sleight of Hand, Riverside, CA, 1998
Contemporary Photography International, HomeLife, Haarlem, The Netherlands, 1997
Maude Kearns Art Center, Los Angeles, Eugene, OR, 1996
Cribb Sasso Gallery, New Orleans To Los Angeles, Santa Ana, CA, 1996
Riverside Art Museum, Los Angeles, Riverside, CA, 1995
Cypress College Photo Gallery, Landscapes, HomeLife, Cypress, CA, 1995
Floating Wall Gallery at Cypress College, curated by Jerry Burchfield, 13 inch Propaganda, Cypress, CA, 1995
Galerie Colbert, Bibliotheque nationale de France, La Matiere, L'Ombre, La Fiction, Paris, France, Oct 15 - Jan 15, 1994
Breda Artotheek, Fotographica 94, Breda, The Netherlands, July 15 - Sept 15, 1994
Griffin Fine Arts, Foto, Costa Mesa, CA, June 4 - July 1, 1994
Cypress College Photo Gallery, New Orleans, Cypress, CA, Nov 8 - Dec 18, 1993
Gallery 141, New Definitions of Photography, Orange, CA, June 19 - July 7, 1993
Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Costa Mesa, CA, Feb 10 – March 12, 1993
Breda Artotheek, Fotographica 92, Los Angeles, Breda, The Netherlands, July 7 - Aug 30, 1992
John Thomas Gallery, New Orleans, two-man show, Santa Monica, CA, May 23 - June 20, 1992
Riverside Art Museum, Basic Black and White, Riverside, CA, March 20 - April 29, 1992
Judy Youens Gallery, Houston FotoFest, HomeLife, Houston, TX, March 7 - March 31, 1992
Mira Costa College, Light Painting, two-man show with Jerry Burchfield, HomeLife, Oceanside, CA, Jan 25 - Feb 1, 1992
Beyerd Museum, FotoWorks 91, HomeLife, Breda, The Netherlands, Aug 11 - Sept 29, 1991
Muckenthaler Cultural Center, The Edge of Night, Fullerton, CA, July 13 - Sept 26, 1991
Judy Youens Gallery, Introductions, HomeLife, Houston, TX, July 13 - Aug 10, 1991
Dutch Konica Foundation, FotoWorks 91, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 9 - July 21, 1991
Fotogalerie Keresztes, HomeLife, Nurnberg, Germany, May 31 - July 31, 1991
Irvine Fine Arts Center, HomeLife, Irvine, CA, Jan 25 - Mar 17, 1991
Joan Robey Gallery, Art Erotique/Menage a Huit, Denver, CO, Nov 1 - Nov 25, 1990
Laguna Beach Gallery of Photography, Laguna Beach, CA, Oct 12 - Nov 9, 1990
Couturier Gallery, Censorship, Shiva, Los Angeles, CA, July 13 - Aug 1, 1990
Lee & Lee Contemporary Gallery, HomeLife, San Francisco, CA, June 27 - Sept 1, 1990
Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Costa Mesa, CA, June 9 - July 28, 1990
University of North Florida, From Fact To Symbol, Jacksonville, FL, June 1 - July 30, 1990
John Thomas Gallery, Vistas, HomeLife, Santa Monica, CA, March - April 27, 1990