Jonathan Pitts-Wiley is a Rhode Island-born portrait and documentary photographer and a 2007 Yale University graduate. His work captures the powerful balance of strength and vulnerability in individuals and the dynamic energy of communal life. He co-founded The Vanta Guild, a collective of Black Rhode Island-based photographers, and has exhibited work at venues including WaterFire Arts Center (The Let-Out), World’s Fair Gallery (All the Worlds), and in the City of Providence’s Who We Are Now public art project. He collaborated with Mary Beth Meehan on Witness, a multimedia exhibition exploring the legacy of his grandmother, Annye Raye Pitts, and the Great Migration. In 2024, he was named an Elected Artist Member of Art League RI.
Paver. 2021
Inkjet on Archival Paper 24″ x 36″
Artist Statement
Photography is my gratitude made visible. Portraiture is my love letter; documentary work, my prayer of witness. As a Black man in America, I turn to the lens to resist despair, to honor the beauty that endures. Raised in the theater, I see each frame as a story — tender, urgent, and true. I seek the quiet power in a glance, the collective grace in a gathering, and the sacred pulse of our shared humanity. My work is an offering: a record of resilience, a reverence for the real.
Additional Info:
Artist’s Website: Jonathan Pitts-Wiley
Instagram:@jpittswiley
Part of Growing the NetWorks
This artist was selected by a past NetWorks Rhode Island participant as part of Growing the NetWorks — a 2025 exhibition presented by WaterFire Providence, at the WaterFire Arts Center, celebrating peer-nominated artists from across Rhode Island. Learn more at waterfire.org/growingthenetworks
Highlighting the work of selected artists who have played vital roles in shaping the contemporary visual arts community in Rhode Island. This collection of brief video portraits provides a window into the lives, practices, and cultural contributions of professional artists.
