Westover Gallery Showcasing ‘Portraits & Behind the Scenes’ Exhibition
Featuring Photographs by Westover Alumna Wheaton Bullock Mahoney ’89
“Portraits & Behind the Scenes,” an exhibition of photographs by Westover School alumna Wheaton Bullock Mahoney ’89, will be on display in Westover’s Schumacher Gallery from March 26th through April 20th.
Wheaton holds a B.F.A. in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design. The Greenwich, Connecticut native noted that she has had a “varied photographic background,” having earned numerous awards for her fine arts photographs and has shown her photographs in multiple solo and cooperative exhibits; her work is also featured in private collections throughout the United States. She was voted one of the top 50 artists in Florida for several years and was invited to show her work at the Naples [FL] Museum of Art for their contemporary exhibition in 2010.
“While my fine art work has been a constant over the last two decades,” Wheaton said, “I have enjoyed other facets of the medium as well. I first started working in a 35mm photo lab and then onto an internship in a photography stock house. I assisted various studio photographers in Manhattan and Minneapolis, all the while trying to find my path. I realized with studio work, that the control I could have with lighting was parallel to the way I saw images in my head.
“For the past several years,” Wheaton said, “I have been shooting studio portraits and since our move to Los Angeles in 2010, I have been photographing ‘Behind the Scenes’ for music videos and film. I have shot look books for jewelry, product stills for catalogs, and had five of my photographs used for album covers. I have had a porcelain company design a pattern of plates based on a photograph of mine, shown in a hospital, and been published in magazines, newspapers, and books.
“I am always amazed at the relationships that are created out of these networks,” Wheaton added. “I have photographed actors on set and then a month later had them in my studio for a headshot and then taken unit stills for their music video soon after.”
Wheaton noted the special place that Westover has in her photographic experience. “Westover gave me my first paying job photographing [the school’s architect] Theodate Pope Riddle's architectural designs at Avon Old Farms School in 1989. I still have the same wild smile today as I did those many years ago when I pick up my camera. I am forever grateful to Michael Gallagher [Westover’s photography teacher for the past 30 years] for taking me under his wing and showing me this incredible form of expression.”
Wheaton and her husband, Patrick, currently reside in Los Angeles with their two children. She is a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Examples of her work can be found at her website, wheatonmahoney.com.
The Schumacher Gallery is open Mondays through Fridays from noon until 5 pm and Saturdays from 1 to 5 pm; it is closed on Sundays. The Schumacher Gallery is located on South Street in Middlebury. Visitors must access the gallery at the main entrance of the School.
