JP Terlizzi

JP Terlizzi is a visual storyteller who uses photography to explore themes of memory, relationship, and identity. Drawing inspiration from his personal experiences he captures moments that convey narratives—whether the story is a framed moment that reveals something about family and home, or a poetic interpretation of a fading reality, the feeling of loss and detachment are recurring themes in his work.

Born and raised in the farmlands of Central New Jersey, JP currently lives in Manhattan. His career spans thirty plus years as creative director for a boutique agency specializing in retail design. He earned a BFA in Communication Design at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and has studied photography at the International Center of Photography in New York and Maine Media College in Rockport ME. His work has been exhibited in the United States and abroad including shows at The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, Umbrella Arts Gallery, New York, NY, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY, The Griffin Museum, Winchester, MA, Tilt Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX, Project Basho Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, Municipal Heritage Museum, Malaga, Spain, and The Berlin Foto Biennale, Berlin, Germany, among others. He was named a Photolucida 2016 Critical Mass Finalist for his series Mother and was a 2015 Critical Mass Finalist for his series Hunter’s Calling which was also selected for the C4FAP Portfolio ShowCase Vol. 9 and ONWARD Compé '16. His work has been featured in PDN, Lenscratch, L'oeil de la Photographie, All About Photo, The Photo Review, F-Stop and Abridged Magazine.

He also finds writing in the third person a little strange.

About The Cedars Run Silent

When I was eight, my parents went through a bitter divorce that had a profound impact on our family and the shaping of my own self-identity. The result of their divorce and the abandonment of my father led to decades of emotional abuse inflicted by my mother. My damaged childhood taught me how to detach myself from the emotional connection one finds in relationships and intimacy. Through the years, I have built walls to veil truths; I have constructed boundaries to control perception and judgment for fear of being abandoned by the significant people that matter most in my adult life.

The Cedars Run Silent is an investigation of self through metaphor. It’s about harboring secrets and living with the tension of suppressing truths. Ultimately it is a visual narrative that explores the presence of vulnerability, insecurity and loneliness, and the internal struggle to openly accept the deep emotional connection one finds in relationships and intimacy.