Chris Smith: Acclaimed photographer makes Calistoga residents his latest muse

As Clark James Mishler strolls Calistoga day in and day out with Molly, his border collie, he scans the sidewalks and yards and businesses for someone.

Who Mishler is looking for, he doesn’t know. The object of his search is someone who looks interesting or is doing something interesting or for any reason catches his well-trained and experienced eye.

The acclaimed career photographer and former National Geographic layout editor knows as he sets out each morning that a photographic moment awaits him somewhere in the winsome wine-and-mud-bath town that crowns Napa Valley. He says, “You just have to go find it.”

THIS MAKES 10 YEARS that Mishler has ventured forth daily and found at least one person to capture in a portrait. He lived in Anchorage when he began shooting daily portraits, some of which grace the 2013 book, “Portrait Alaska,” and prominent museums.

A longing by him and his wife, Mitzi, to be closer to their daughters and grandkids drew them to Calistoga in 2015. On Day 1 as a Calistogan, Mishler leashed Molly and commenced shooting a portrait du jour.

A GALLERY SHOW of a selection of his photos from the past five years opened on March 8 at Calistoga’s Sofie Contemporary Arts. It’s run by Jan Sofie, freshly retired after 25 years as director of the ArtQuest program at Santa Rosa High School, and her husband, Scott.

The Sofies have called Calistoga home since the mid-’70s and operated the historic Brannan Cottage Inn prior to opening the gallery in the fall of 2017 — just before the tragedy, destruction and chaos of the Tubbs fire.

ONLY THREE DAYS after the March opening of Mishler’s photo exhibition, “Calistogans,” the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Shelter-in-place orders quickly caused the Sofies to close their Lincoln Avenue gallery.

Today Sofie Contemporary Arts has reopened, with Jan and Scott crossing their fingers that it will stay that way. They plan to show Mishler’s photos through July 26.

The daily routine the photographer adopted on Jan. 1, 2010, is to set out with his Canon camera and look for someone who might make a good portrait subject. He approaches the person or persons and asks for permission to take a photo.

He also talks with the people about what they’re doing at that moment, and about their lives. Many of his portraits and stories appear in his column, “Who We Are,” in the weekly Calistoga Tribune newspaper.

HIS EXHIBITION at the Sofies’ gallery is a collection of endearing, respectful, inclusive, sometimes poignant, sometimes whimsical portraits of people who are elements of the face of Calistoga.

The gallery is open from noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. On the weekend of July 18 and 19, Mishler will be present from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. to discuss and sign his photos.

An impressive 250 of them are on exhibit. “It represents 5% of the people in Calistoga,” Mishler said.

With him shooting a portrait of at least one Calistogan a day, someone only slightly better at math than I can figure out about how long it’ll take him to shoot everybody in town.