John Pfahl received both a BFA and MA from Syracuse University. After teaching photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1968 to 1985, he resigned to pursue a career in photography but has remained a visiting and an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico and the University of Buffalo, respectively. His photographs appear in numerous public and corporate collections, including those of George Eastman House, Rochester; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Modern Art, New York City; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. His work has been included in many solo and group exhibits around the world and has earned him several notable awards and honors, including the National Endowment of the Arts' Photographer's Fellowship in 1975 and 1990 and two photography grants from the New York State Creative Artists Program Service.

Artist Statement: The Greendale Cemetery in Meadville, Pennsylvania, was established as a municipal park and burial ground in 1853. Locate on a verdant hillside, it is blessed with a micro-climate especially well-suited to the culture of azaleas and rhododendrons. Over a thousand specimens have been planted over the years, some of which have grown to prodigious heights. When they are all in bloom towards the end of May, thousands of visitors come to view the spectacle. This image was commissioned by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film for “Heroes of Horticulture,” an exhibition of original photography produced as part of the Cultural Landscape Foundation’s 2007 Landslide initiative of the same title.