John William Cook American, 1940 - 1978 The images of John William Cook (born in Cleveland) reveal his interest in archetypes, alchemy, and the magic inherent in the photographic process. Using both straight and manipulated formats, he relied on chance and lack of conscious effort in creating his color and black-and-white prints. "It is possible to find one's relationship to the unconscious via one's images," he wrote. "The very moment you try to direct from the thinking mind, everything fails. The same state can be repeated in the darkroom which then becomes a laboratory for visual experimentation." This ideology reflects the influence of Minor White, with whom Cook studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology (A.A.S. in photography, 1960). He also studied with Jerry Uelsmann at the University of Florida. Cook remained in contact with White throughout his life and was instrumental in bringing the master's photography workshops to Cleveland. Leaving graduate school in 1961 for lack of funds, he worked in a photo lab and as staff photographer for an Atlanta-based advertising firm. He returned to Cleveland in 1963 and worked for five years as staff photographer for the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he met his wife, Sara Jane Pearman, the museum's slide librarian. He was a regular participant in the museum's May Shows (regional juried exhibitions) and won many awards. Cook left his post at the museum to teach at the University of Akron while continuing to pursue his own work. He died suddenly of leukemia in 1978. At the time of his death, he was nearing completion of a series of photomontages on the Book of Genesis. In Cook's memory, his widow established an endowment fund to acquire photographs for the museum's collection. A.W.