The fifth annual Willits Photo Club show, now named in honor of a late and inspiring member, opened Saturday night with a lovely and well attended reception. The latest information I have indicates there were 41 photographers exhibiting 318 photographs in all. This show runs through November 30th, and gallery hours are Thursdays through Sundays. Check the Willits Center for the Arts website for more specifics.
Right, so up above there, do you see the black and white photo of the jagged crest of the awe-inspiring Patagonian Andes? And next to it, the wraiths of clouds caressing the sheer granite cliffs of Yosemite Valley? Those aren't mine.
Mine are the four colored canvases stacked, meaningfully enough I thought, next to an open glass panel door. Each depict openings which are shut, in some way. But really, they are just three walls and a railroad car, and were posted on this blog earlier in the year. When I did catch a few people looking at them, the expressions were typically gape-mouthed bafflement. This is the first time I ever put up anything of mine in an art gallery, so some seriously narcissistic curiosity kicked in and I tended very much to linger in the front lobby area to see how people might respond. Or if they would even look.
Finally, someone mercifully reminded me that there were a lot of spectacular photos to see in the two gallery showrooms, the rest of the lobby, the hallway, the reception room, the stairwell, and the vast upstairs gallery and events venue. Did I mention there were 318 photographs, and a lot of people looking at them? Kudos to the hard working volunteers from the Photo Club, who spent countless hours organizing and installing this event. All I did was put my own up on the wall.
To see more of the reception for this show, please look at my Overflow blog. And of course, there's an Animoto, for those of you who like that sort of thing.
15 comments:
This is an interesting exhibit. I am impressed.
So it seems to be a nice exhibit ,as we say in french "bravo "
Oh E! I know how it feels to put yourself (your work) out there for people to peruse. It's so hard not to watch but then you are afraid to because you don't want to see an "unwanted" reaction! HA
I think your photos were wonderful. I would have been standing there oohhhing and ahhhing right along with those nice people from Willits. Take a bow!
Congratulations, it must be nice to look at the people reaction on your work..."Live"!!
Congratulations! It takes courage to put your work out there like this! I love the photos you took of the women studying your photos. They are terrific! It looks like it was a great exhibit!
I'm so impressed that you are putting your work out like that. I tried to blow the photo up to see which of your creations are there. I'm pretty sure I recognized the top one as having been on your blog recently and one of the others looks like a railroad pic that you did last summer. Am I right? What are the other ones?
(Kym, each of the words "just three walls" links to the blog posts the pictures were in. So does "railroad car".) 8^)
How wonderful to have your photos on display, Elaine! I'm sure there were many positive responses as your photos tell a story.
Did you have your photos printed out on canvas and then wrapped on stretcher bars? Your work looks good stacked and selected based on a theme. Kind of quite and contemplative. Brava
Congratulations, Elaine. What a fabulous achievement to have your photos included in the exhibition.
We are all so proud of you.
Abraham and Babzy - It really is an eye-opener to see all the talented and competent photographers in this area. They range in age from 11 to well into their eighties.
V - The worst were the truly fleeting glances. I wouldn't have minded shrugs and curled lips. And thank you.
M-N - It was certainly new to me!
Kelly - Thank you. I hope they don't mind my observations.
Kym - In addition to the hidden links noted above, I put my four exhibited photos into the Animoto mix.
Jill - Thank you. After doing this blog every day for half a year, it's strange to pick out images to display without captions. These are more just graphic blocks of flat surfaces that the locals should be able to recognize from here in town.
PA - I did! Actually, I had it done by a terrific local professional photographer called Ron Greystar, who prints and stretches the canvasses around thick wood frames, and seals them with an overcoating. Some of my images hadn't been cropped, so there wasn't any available image area to use for wrapping. In those cases, he "cloned" the edges as mirrors of the front surface. He was great to work with, and the process is pretty labor intensive, so it deservedly cost a little money. But I'm now thinking about some others I'd like to see done.
Ming - Thank you so much! Sharing this with you guys is like sharing it with a family!
Thanks everyone!
How could I have missed those links? Thanks for the pointer. I did recognize both the railroad car and the Book Juggler back door ( though it was longer ago than I thought.) Beautiful photos with an austere look. Well done.
Bravo Elaine! I always admire your wall/door photos. They've inspired me to take a few of my own that I'm scared to post because I keep feeling that people will compare them to yours.....
But you left out my favorite, the August theme day mysterious metal door.
Great to see that you were exhibiting, Elaine. Looks like a great show. Have always been fond of your wall shots and especially like the top photo. Like the canvas style of mounting that you've used.
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