Home About the Gallery Current Show Show Schedule Gallery Photographers Partner Artists-in-Residence
Courses at Image City
Exhibition Opportunities Links Sponsors Image City Feature Articles Gary's Photographic Tips Newsletter Archive If you are unable to visit our gallery and would like to purchase photographs from this preview or others in the gallery, please contact the gallery and call 585-271-2540.
| Gallery Picks of the Show
Japonica: Impressions of Japan
Peter Marr
and Gallery Partners have chosen their "Picks of the Show".
click here to return to the details of the exhibit All images copyright by the individual photographers
Peter Marr's Picks of the Exhibit |
|
Golden Pavilion by Steve Levinson
The Golden Pavilion is a centuries old Zen Buddhist Temple and a
retirement Villa of the Shogun, which is one of the most popular
destination for tourists in Japan. Inspiringly, Steve has brilliantly
and artistically chosen a viewpoint of this historic site that allows
the viewer to admire and explore the lifelong relationship between
culture and nature, in which beauty and form are at one with each other.
Not only that, but he has imaginatively used monochromatic media in
order to accentuate the visual and tonal continuity of how the Pavilion
is an integrated structure within the landscape. The centerpiece is an
impressive pine tree towering above the reflecting pond, its weathered
trunk powerfully thrusting diagonally ever upwards in its desire to
surpass the temple in its height. Its often twisted and contorted
branches reach out majestically in all directions. What is so revealing
and awe-inspiring is the wonderful contrast between the tree bark’s
darker elongated striations, formed by nature over countless years, with
the almost translucent pine needles which are displayed in a myriad of
spikes and groupings, which seem to dance in unison as they set up
radiant displays over the water below. This pine tree is a symbol of
longevity and resilience, evoking the essence of the landscape itself,
and playing a key role of spiritual significance. The foreground of this
stellar black and white print is framed elegantly with native plants,
and interestingly, the reeds growing in the pond gracefully complement
the pine needles. The Golden Pavilion itself is very evident, with its
stately architecture seen imposingly through the pine tree as a lovely
high key setting. The temple is magically reflected in the water below,
stylishly revealing how it is creatively integrated into the landscape.
This striking image is a great tribute to the photographic and artistic
talents of Steve, especially in how he has combined an exceptional
unconventional viewpoint, lovely diffuse lighting, exposure control and
printing prowess, to give to the viewer an exceptional and uplifting
image. This delightful print profoundly illustrates how Japanese culture
and a reverence for nature can be enjoyed together by everyone.
Peter Marr
|
|
Threesome by Steve Levinson
This is an absolutely
delightful photograph of 3 Japanese children, immaculately attired in
their mandatory school uniforms, sitting together on a bench inside an
open shelter, probably awaiting transportation to their place of
learning. The setting is memorable, where both the foreground and
background masterfully and powerfully enhances the tone and atmosphere
of this image, without detracting in any way from the main subject
matter. This monochromatic print vibrantly glows under soft diffuse
lighting which spectacularly accentuates every tonal gradation and
detail. Although the children are aware they are being photographed,
there is no “inscrutable” response from the three of them. Certainly the
youth in the center is flashing a v-shaped finger pose to Steve, a
typical response to an interested tourist, and his eyes directed to the
side emphasizes his disinterest and so-what attitude. The boy on his
right exhibits a more quizzical expression, suggesting that he is trying
to read the mind of the photographer as to why the 3 of them are being
singled out for special attention. Of interest, both these boys are
holding on tightly to their umbrellas. In complete contrast, the girl at
the center left has a delightful smile, belying somewhat her
nervousness, as evidenced by the way that she is playing with the ends
of the spokes of the unfurled umbrella, and appears withdrawn and much
less confident than her compatriots. For myself, and the reason that I
chose this creative and expressive image to comment on, is that it
inspiringly depicts part of a rigid culture of childhood development in
Japan. I am very much in favor of a strict school dress code, having
experienced it myself, and it has many positive attributes. In Japan,
however, where success at the school level is paramount to a child’s
future in life, the competition is extremely intense. This starts early
in life, and with our 3 students, the dress code has eliminated an
important element in their quest for individual expression. They are
left with few chances to achieve some level of personalization such as
where here, one is aware of different umbrella designs, sneaker styles,
designs on their water canisters, all the way to how they wear their
hats. Steve’s captivating image is authorative and compelling, an
uplifting and visionary record of a way of life and cultural traditions
in Japan.
Peter Marr
|
|
Irby by Avi Pryntz-Nadworny
It is strikingly and
insightfully evident that Avi’s tenure with Cirque Du Soleil as an
acrobat and performer, provided a wonderful experiential training
opportunity to photograph circus artists. His remarkable images are a
great tribute to the consummate skills of the performers, and to his
outstanding talent and artistry in photographically capturing these
exciting images. My favorite print of Avi’s in his exhibition is
Irby, an image that has a magical quality that is full of vitality
and exhilaration. The artist has been superbly captured by the
photographer at a peak moment where she appears to be flying in space,
and if the window was open, it is easy to imagine that she could
continue into the space beyond. The artist’s body, outstretched arms and
legs are in almost perfect unison, combining supreme strength and
gracefulness in a manner that is just breathtaking. Achieving this
dynamic and masterful position is a great tribute to her artistry and
athleticism and to her work ethic and long hours of training and
practice, and of course to Avi’s exceptional skills in capturing so
amazingly this epic picture. What really puts this image in the
exceptional category is the exquisite lighting. The photographer has
creatively captured the ambient light coming through the vertical
window, where the lower frames in the latter produce a distinctive
pattern on the wooden floor, the light from which reflects up onto the
artist, filling in all the important detail in her legs. The soft
lighting is still strong enough to outline the detail in the blue door
to the right, and the window at the top of the door allows one to see a
small part of the outside and in doing so, creates an important
3-dimensional element to this wonderful picture. In total, the entire
room is beautifully illuminated, low key, but enough light to admire the
paneling, the floor
and the blue ceiling. This is truly an exceptional photograph for
everyone to enjoy and treasure.
Peter Marr
| Peter Marr | We are very grateful to Peter for his thorough review and selection for Peter's Picks. Peter was born in England in 1935 and came to live in the United States in 1968. He worked for the Eastman Kodak Company for 34 years, retiring in 1998. During his employment and continuing into retirement, he has been an enthusiastic photographer. His photography has won him numerous awards throughout Kodak and in International Salons, including 5 George Eastman Medals, which is the top honor awarded to the most outstanding picture in the Annual Kodak International Salon. He has served as a judge in both local and international photographic competitions for the past 20 years, and is a Past president of the Kodak Camera Club and past chairman of many of the Kodak Camera Club organizations. In the past five years or so, he has devoted his photographic skills and interest into nature photography, notably bird photography. His bird photography has been the subject of several one-person exhibits, the most recent being at Ding Darling NWR, in Sanibel, Florida, The Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, New York, and at the Webster Public Library in Webster, NY.
|
Partner
Picks of the Exhibit |
|
Dead Horse Point
by Jim Dusen
Jim Dusen has creatively captured a beautiful and unique image of an
often-photographed location.
The scene is Dead Horse Point located in Utah just outside of Canyon
Lands National Park. Jim’s
image differs from the multitude of other high quality photographs of
this location in two ways.
The most significant difference is that Jim has framed the image with a
refreshingly interesting and very large foreground. The foreground,
which covers about 55 percent of the image, contains the same warm
colors of the canyon and its orientation points directly down towards
the large “U” shaped bend in the Colorado River.
Jim thus creates excellent
balance for the image and also fosters feelings of 3-dimensionality for
the viewer.
Most photographers include a small portion of the sky above the rim when
photographing this canyon.
Jim avoids the sky entirely, and concentrates totally on the essential
elements of the canyon. This
provides simplicity and emphasizes the beauty of the scene.
Notice how the brightest portions of the image surround and
direct our attention to the bottom of the canyon.
This nicely places their intersection on one of the rule of
thirds locations. Jim has
shown that an excellent photographer can avoid cliché images and can
creatively produce high quality and unique compositions at iconic
locations.
|
|
Warmly Frozen by Jan
Ferry-Axman
There are many beautiful landscape photographs
taken by many talented photographers. Most of these can be
considered "wide angle", showing beautiful mountains, rivers, oceans,
forests and the like. A subset of landscape photographs can be termed
"micro-landscapes" --showing just a small portion of what the
photographer sees. Often these are very effective ways to convey the
larger scene by focusing on one aspect of it.
Jan has exhibited a beautiful series of photographs
that do just that. Showing creative composition, Warmly Frozen
depicts the beauty of water, leaves and ice. Employing earth-tones
and a very strong graphical sense, this photograph encourages the eye to
move throughout the space. Also to move up and down into the frozen
lake, enjoying leaves that are both at the surface and somewhat
submerged. The ripples of ice add strongly to the composition, offering
a counterpoint to the colorful Autumn leaves.
Winter in the North East can be both something that
its residents can both dread and revel in. Warmly frozen depicts the
transition of fall to winter--the leaves till retain their autumnal
colors while starting down the road to being frozen for the upcoming
months. Reinforcing the beauty of the winter in our area.
Also this photograph, though having a simple
subject, can be considered.
|
|
454
- 1 by Jeff Palm
Jeff Palm uses excellent architectural composition producing his
beautiful photographic portrait of a Blue Chevelle.
He has directed his camera to the front corner of the Chevelle
thereby exposing almost the full length of the left side of the vehicle.
To the right of the car’s corner he features two front headlights and a
portion of the front grill of the Chevelle. By placing the corner of the
vehicle off center and to the right side of the photograph he is able to
feature the long blue side of this classical vehicle. The combination of
the long blue side view of the car and the much shorter view of the
car’s grill utilizes the “rule of thirds”, and communicates a pleasant
three dimensional feeling.
Several subtle reflections
add to the beauty of this image.
Smokey shaped, almost wistful white reflections seem to float across
much of the blue side of the car.
Blue and golden reflections delicately highlight the chrome of the grill
and bumper areas. The inclusion of the front tire and chrome of the
hubcap and wheel are important for balance. The
silvery reflections off the hubcap and wheel are attractive and counter
balance the roundness of the two headlamps.
|
| |
|