Tory Peterson and Me—A Special Exhibit In New London

A Press Release from The Gallery At Firehouse Square in New London

“Roger Tory Peterson and Me: A Bird Photographer’s Inspiration” featuring the original photography of Old Lyme artist Diana Atwood Johnson, and her personal inspiration, renowned photographer and illustrator Roger Tory Peterson, opens at The Gallery At Firehouse Square in New London on Thursday, June 27. 

Johnson and Peterson’s evocative images depicting wildlife from across the region and around the world bring the beauty of nature indoors with original photographic prints by Peterson, acquired directly from his estate. They are the only prints ever produced from these Peterson photographs, offered in a beautiful large format, 1/1 print with estate stamp confirming their exclusivity.   

Gallery visitors will have a chance to meet Johnson during an opening reception on June 27 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and during a closing reception on July 27.  

A long time resident of Old Lyme, Connecticut, Diana Atwood Johnson has served as Chair for Old Lyme's Open Space Committee, as well as Chair of the Connecticut Natural Heritage, Open Space, and Watershed Land Acquisition Review Board.  She has served on the board of the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts since 1980 and is now its Chairman. She took up birding and nature photography when she sold the Old Lyme Inn after 25 years as its Innkeeper.

“The opportunity to return to the outdoors has been a great joy to me,” said Johnson. “Capturing the magic of birds, wildlife and natural landscapes allows me to share with others some of the thrills I have experienced.”

As the former owner of the Old Lyme Inn, Johnson got to know Peterson when he and his wife would come for dinner. According to Johnson, it was Peterson who first alerted her to the swirling motion that flocks of tree swallows make during their migratory preparations from the lower Connecticut River and nearby Goose Island, where they gather each August before migrating for winter. It was this love and admiration for Peterson and his work that recently led Johnson to purchase an illustration of tree swallows by Roger Tory Peterson at an auction in New York to further compliment her intimate collection of rare, one-of-a-kind prints by Peterson

Famed ornithologist, photographer and artist Roger Tory Peterson, whose famous field guides helped popularize the hobby of birding and advance the conservation movement, lived in Old Lyme from 1952 until his death in 1996. As one of the world's greatest naturalists, he studied, painted, and photographed birds on a 56-acre property off Route 156 in Old Lyme. 

For more than 65 years, Peterson’s field guides set the standard for effective field guides. Comprehensive and authoritative, they have become essential additions to any naturalist's bookshelf or backpack.  The culmination of Peterson’s artistic and bird identification skills led to the publication of his first book‚ A Field Guide to the Birds‚ in 1934.

Peterson’s property in Old Lyme was recently acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be incorporated into the vast Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge that extends through multiple parcels throughout the four-state Connecticut River watershed to the Canadian border. 

For more information about the “Roger Tory Peterson and Me: A Bird Photographer’s Inspiration” exhibition and other maritime art available for viewing and purchase at THE GALLERY AT FIREHOUSE SQUARE, 239 Bank Street, New London, please visit www.firehousesquare.com.