John Bocan

About John Bocan

John M. Bocan, originally from Pittsburgh and currently resides in Morgantown WV, is employed by the federal government as a geospatial information systems (GIS) professional with a specialty in interactive map design. He is also a naturalist and is a certified West Virginia Master Naturalist with interests in entomology, native plants and pollinator habitats, seed collecting/processing, and invasive flora and fauna. John holds both a BA in Theology, Psychology with a minor in Philosophy from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA and a BS in Computer Science from West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV–in addition, a Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems from Pennsylvania State University.

For photography, John is a member of the Digital Photography Club of Annapolis (MD) and the Maryland Photography Alliance (a holdover when he briefly lived in Maryland). He is a juried artist with Tamarack in Beckley WV and also an artist member and has a studio with the Monongalia Arts Center in Morgantown, WV.

John is a self-taught photographer who focuses on the natural world ranging from macro (e.g., insects/arthropods) to natural landscapes. Urban photography–especially old, derelict, or abandoned buildings–also catches his eye in a desire to capture our disappearing structural history. And speaking of history, John occasionally explores Pictorialist photographic expression and enlists the style in some of his works. John likes to add that he tries to use Free and Open Source software in his photographic post-processing.

Bocan’s photography can be found at the Tamarack Gallery and Marketplace in Beckley, WV, at the Appalachian Gallery in Morgantown, WV and in several businesses in Monongalia County, WV. He can be found online via Flickr and Instagram under “JMBocan”.