Retterer, Jack
Statement: Jack Retterer is a photographer, poet and teacher. He lived most of his life in the Chicago area, moving to Lenoir City, Tennessee in 2014. He selected East Tennessee to be closer to grandchildren, to be further from Chicago snows and to enjoy the photography opportunities found through out the state.
Biography: Jack was introduced to photography at age 16. Early education in photography came from a combination of trial and error and, self study of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Yosef Karsh and others. Eventually, he was able to take photography classes at the Chicago School of Photography. Regular attendance at a variety of workshops, photography club seminars, and conferences helped further with his learning experiences. Jack admits that his greatest learning experience came when he accepted the challenge to create & teach basic and advanced photography classes at Benedictine University in Naperville, Illinois. After moving to East Tennessee, he began to teach photography classes for local park districts. Jack currently teaches Fine Art Photography at the University of Tennessee and is a frequent speaker at local photography clubs and artist organizations.
Jack’s American Impressionist style photography and large canvas prints have been on display and offered for purchase through the Art Market Gallery, the Knoxville Arts and Culture Alliance, the Tennessee Artists Association, the Plateau Creative Arts Center in Crossville, the Art Guild in Tellico Village, Arts at the Airport, the City of Knoxville Mayors Office, the Knoxville County Mayors office, the Clayton Center for the Art, the Rarity Bay Community Center, the Fountain City Arts Center, the Loudon County Visitors’ Center, the Oak Ridge Art Gallery and the Venue Conference Center in Lenoir City.
Most recently, Jack expanded his creativity journey by writing interpretive poetry to compliment his fine art photography.
Jack joined the Art Guild in Fairfield Glade because, “Being around talented artists is a great way for me to be inspired and motivated to continuously develop my artistic skills.”
