Plainfield pastor seeks to capture elusive details, candid moments

PLAINFIELD – He’s a bishop, pastor, husband, father and author of several motivational books.

But when Nolan McCants, 52, of Naperville and pastor of Harvest Church in Plainfield, shoulders his camera, he only wishes to be Nolan McCants, photographer, striving to capture details missed by the casual observer or one-of-a-kind moments in time.

On Dec. 6, McCants will present “Artstravaganza,” a solo exhibit featuring 17 of his images from Spain and the United Kingdom. Reservation deadline is Nov. 28.

Sharing his work is as much fun for Nolan as shooting it.

“I like people to fall in love with my work, put it on their walls and journey around the world with me,” McCants said. “That’s what excites me.”

Rarely does McCants shoot on home soil; but since he takes half a dozen international trips a year – half for ministry, half for pleasure – opportunities aren’t hard to find. Exploring unfamiliar locations gives McCants a fresh eye for color, texture, perspective and depth.

“Those things draw me,” McCants said. “They speak to me, and I’m drawn into a conversation with the image.”

McCants became interested in cameras and darkrooms through a photography class when he was in the sixth grade. About five years later, McCants’ brother, a photographer, gave McCants a Pentax. With that camera, McCants said he shot anything that caught his attention.

The hobby receded to other responsibilities and interests until about eight years ago, although McCants has traded film and the darkroom for digital. Since then, McCants said he has shot about 70,000 images. Only 40 or 50 have become what he calls “fine art.”

However, that doesn’t lower the importance of the other images, as they conjure up treasured remembrances for him.

“They bring to mind where I was before and after an image was taken,” McCants said.

Although McCants’ obligations sometimes necessitate travel across entire countries – even continents – in mere days, McCants prefers to familiarize himself with an area and then memorialize it in thousands of images.

“I just literally walk around and shoot things that grab me,” McCants said.

He used Nigeria as an example. McCants has gone to Nigeria a number of times over the past 11 years, he said. He’s preached to large groups that number in the thousands, and as few as eight, in house churches, and has visited more cities in that country than most Nigerians, he added.

During that time, McCants said he has met many Nigerians, and he knows them to be warm, friendly, engaging people who welcome guests with home-cooked meals. One of his daughters, who visited Nigeria with him when she was 13, summed it up best, he said.

“She said, ‘I feel as though I’ve met my aunts and uncles,’” McCants said. “Now that’s rich.”

And yet, one of McCants’ favorite images from Nigeria embodies none of those elements. It’s a spontaneous shot, that of a Nigerian man about to bathe standing on a stone. In the distance, a man is sitting in a boat, fishing. A dog is swimming in the water. A closer look also reveals a baby crocodile.

The scene’s candor excites the artist in McCants.

“You can’t stage that from a fine art standpoint,” he said.

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IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Artstravaganza”

WHEN: 5:30 to 8 p.m. Dec. 6

WHERE: Gallery Gorsot, 320 S. Halsted St., Chicago

ETC: Images by fine arts photographer Nolan McCants, music, hors d’oeuvres, Cava (Spanish champagne), valet parking.

RSVP: By Nov. 28, by phone or online

CONTACT: 630-904-6262 or nolanphotos.com