About
“Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”
— Mary Oliver, Sometimes
For Gabriel Beaton, photography is more than a craft — it is a practice of presence, a way of honoring the fleeting moments when light, place, and spirit converge. His work is rooted in a lifelong dialogue with nature, shaped by both his family’s creative legacy and his own search for meaning and connection.
His creative story begins in Chatham, Massachusetts, where his parents first met. After returning from the Navy, Gabriel’s father worked as a commercial fisherman, while his mother pursued her own artistic path. She opened her first gallery in Chatham’s historic Brick Block building, often setting up her easel on the street to offer portraits to the many visitors drawn to Chatham’s charm each summer. Their wedding, with its reception at the newly opened Chatham Squire, became a celebration remembered and talked about for years to come.
After they wed, Gabriel’s parents moved to Blue Hill, a small seaside town on a remote peninsula on Maine’s Down East coast, where they started a family. The rugged coastline, salt air, and ever-changing skies left an indelible mark, instilling in Gabriel a deep appreciation for nature’s rhythms and the transformative power of light sensibilities that remain at the heart of his photography. His mother’s example as an artist became an enduring inspiration, showing him that the act of seeking and cultivating creative expression is integral to being human — a vital path toward meaning, connection, and self-discovery.
As a young man, Gabriel moved to New York City to study interior design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. His decades in the city became a time of discovery and reinvention: he opened a bar in the East Village, managed hotels, and immersed himself in the city’s vibrant, unrelenting energy. New York refined his eye and sharpened his instinct for storytelling — skills that would later find their fullest expression through the camera, a passion first sparked when he received his first camera as a gift under the Christmas tree at age ten. What began as childhood Curiosity steadily grew into a lifelong pursuit, and with the acquisition of a DSLR in 2002, his enthusiasm deepened, and his practice became more prolific, allowing him to further expand his creative vision.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Gabriel was contacted by his friend and Chatham artist, Steve Lyons, who offered him a job as his manager. Following Steve’s untimely passing — a profound loss for Chatham and the wider art community — Gabriel co-founded Artnova in 2021 with Steve’s former apprentice, Nicholas Heaney. One of his deepest inspirations for opening the gallery was to provide a place for his mother to paint and share her work, continuing the legacy she began decades earlier while also creating a space for collaboration, creativity, and renewal. The gallery quickly grew into a cornerstone of the Lower Cape arts community, cementing Gabriel’s role within it.
From that foundation and with the generous support of the team of artists he represents at Artnova, Gabriel launched his newest venture: Salt Studio in Chatham. More than a photography studio, Salt is an evolving project — a space where his creative practice continues to grow in unexpected directions. While photography remains at its core, Salt serves as a laboratory for experimentation, where Gabriel expresses his creativity