Viewpoint Exhibit History

In the Step Up Gallery in October, Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents the photography of Garrett Cotham in an exhibit titled On Trail: Images from Hiking Trails of the American West.

The images in On Trail are part of a large, ongoing project that reflects Garrett’s desire to explore the natural world, especially wild and undeveloped areas. “I have become an avid hiker,” he states, “and often find myself exploring these places alone, developing a sense of wonder, awe, and tranquility as I take in these scenes. I try to evoke a sense of quiet and solitude in my photographs, as well as inspire viewers to explore and learn as much about our world as possible. I hope that viewers will feel as though they are in the places that I depict in my photographs, experiencing the actual location with their own senses, and developing their own memories and emotions of that place.”

Viewpoint Photographic Art Center is pleased to present the exhibit Moods of Venice by Robert Hubbell in its Step Up Gallery in September.

“Ah, Venice, that magical place,” sighs Bob. “My romantic heart beat as I strolled her alleys and plazas. I enjoyed her architecture, the glories of her art, the dignified decay of her weathered buildings, the romance of her nights, and the exuberance of her past.”

In 2011 Bob spent two weeks in Venice, much of it simply wandering, trying to absorb and photograph what he saw. “Different aspects of the city generated different responses,” he says, “from the cliché of gondolas moored near San Marco Square to the giant billboard dominating the Bridge of Sighs. I was intrigued by reflections in the canals. Brightly colored like the billboard, they are reminiscent of Venice’s glory days, when whole buildings were covered with murals, and extravagance was a way of life. The twilight hours add still another mood to the city, as the colors become muted and the ghosts of the past begin to whisper.”

During the month of August, Viewpoint Gallery presents Images of Indian Valley—Photographs by Erik Weber in the Step Up Gallery.

Erik Weber is a documentary photographer, or as he prefers to call himself, a "visual historian". After living most of his life in San Francisco, he moved to Indian Valley, a remote, secluded part of Plumas County, California, where logging, ranching, mining and farming has been the way of life from the time the valley was settled in the 1850s to the present. Minimally touched by outside influences, it offered Weber an opportunity to make images of a way of life much different from the one he had known.

Weber spent the first years in Indian Valley learning how to live in the mountains with few city conveniences and getting to know the local customs, folks and critters. With so much to photograph, and knowing the limits of his visual energy, he decided to to confine his photography to Indian Valley. He felt it was important to document what he found here before it disappeared.

The annual Viewpoint Members’ Exhibit, a long-time tradition at Viewpoint, is always exciting for the quality and range of photographic art it showcases. Because it gives all Viewpoint members an opportunity to showcase one image of their choosing, the exhibit highlights the diversity of techniques, approaches, and personal visions in our photographic community.

Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents the exhibit Ancient Textures of the Sevier Orogeny by Viewpoint member Ron Williams in the Step Up Gallery in June.

The Sevier Orogeny was a mountain-forming event that affected North America along the western slope of the Rocky Mountains during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Sevier refers to the Sevier River, whose headwaters originate in the Zion National Park region. Millions of years of tectonic action, erosion of carving rivers, volcanic episodes, and glacial scraping have created these fascinating surreal landscapes. “This body of work,” says Ron, “focuses on the hidden beauty in close-ups of textures in the geologic detail”. Very little photo manipulation was applied to these images shot along Highway 9 just east of the Mt. Carmel Tunnel in Zion National Park.

How do visual images convey a sense of place? From the jungles of the Amazon rainforest to the icy glaciers of Antarctica to the festive streets of Venice, three Viewpoint photographers define place through color, form and gesture.

Larry Brenden brings us a world that few have experienced: Antarctica, a continent completely surrounded by ocean with a desert climate which receives less than 3 inches of precipitation annually. "Though isolated by geography, the Antarctic continent is not isolated from the ravages of Global Warming and water conservation. This environment, one of the last pristine frontiers, is extremely vulnerable to our daily decisions about energy and waste." Many travelers expect white snow and black rocks; when in fact the clean air and unpolluted environment contribute to a kaleidoscope of colors.

Dolores Frank plunged into the festive world of the Venetian carnavale, an annual celebration with roots in many traditions, from the Latin feast of Saturnalia to the Greek feast of Dionysian cults celebrating the start of spring. "People come from all over the world to display their extravagant costumes and masks. For those who choose not to adorn themselves, there are many celebrations planned which show the heart of Venice. It is a happy time with thousands of people celebrating."

David L. Robertson explored a slice of the Brazilian rainforest in 2007, venturing upriver in canoes around the town of Manaus. "In the villages, the houses would often contain a dozen or more occupants. At night, hammocks would be strung from hooks in the ceiling to accommodate all of the evening residents." Robertson came away from his experience with a renewed sense of the diversity of cultures around the world.

Three visual artists in three evocative settings. Join us for a visual exploration of place.

The April exhibit at Viewpoint displays the wonderful prints available for bidding and purchase in the 2013 Viewpoint Photographic Art Auction. Many well known photographers are featured in this year's auction exhibit, along with many other talented Viewpoint members and supporters.

Over the years, field trips sponsored by Viewpoint Gallery have inspired photographers to interpret, study, record, and reinterpret static and dynamic elements of the natural and manmade worlds that partially define Northern California.

This exhibit presents distinctive features belonging to sites of historical significance, recorded alongside spontaneous beauty captured in outdoor environments. The destinations for these excursions have included Preston Castle in Ione, Knight Foundry and Machine Shop of Sutter Creek, Bodie State Historic Park in Mono County, the Cosumnes River Preserve near Galt, and Mare Island Historic Park (a former Naval base and shipyard) in Vallejo.

Joseph Finkleman’s Fragile and Passing Patterns of imagery will be featured in the Step Up Gallery at Viewpoint Photographic Art Center during the month of June and the first week of July. Finkleman makes mostly abstract paintings with the brush we know as photography.

“This show, like much of my work, eliminates a great deal if not all context. I find in this work an interesting question. We will look at something and state that 'this' is a picture, and 'that' is not a picture. There is a boundary line, maybe more accurately, a boundary layer there and I try to place the 'this' is a picture as closely as possible to the boundary of 'that' is not a picture, in order to examine why is 'this' a picture and 'that' is not.”

Jonathan Mumby is a traditional landscape photographer – he exposes black and white film in a large view camera. Strongly influenced by the works of Ansel Adams and Brett Weston, he finds that lugging a heavy camera for many miles to make an exposure makes the photograph more satisfying.  "I feel I don't just take the photograph – I earn it." The American western landscape is his favorite subject.

Viewpoint Environmental Art Fair

Viewpoint Gallery is joining with nonprofit nature conservation and educational groups to host the Viewpoint Environmental Art Fair for the opening of Robert Glenn Ketchum's November exhibit, co-sponsored by KVIE public television.

There will be live music, a silent auction, and booths by our nonprofit partners in the adjacent courtyard (details below). Viewpoint Gallery will also launch new membership options with fine art images by Lewis Kemper, Roman Loranc, and John Wimberley, and silk scarves featuring photographic designs by Robert Glenn Ketchum. Silent auction items will include fine art prints, guided raft trips, canoe tours, coffee table books, dinner vouchers, and more.

Viewpoint’s 4th annual December juried exhibition is Twelve: Square, a selection of photographs exploring the particular challenges and properties of the square format.

“I considered the use of the frame to be of utmost importance when curating this year’s Viewpoint exhibition,” writes exhibit juror Byron Wolfe, eminent photographer and Professor of Communication Design at California State University, Chico. “I looked for pictures where the photographer’s compositional approach recognized the unique properties of the square.”

“There’s something special about squares,” Wolfe observes. “At first, their perfect symmetry and equally measured sides convey stability and equilibrium, but as soon as you start to fill them up with things, their balance becomes delicate and tenuous. Suddenly, composing within a square is more akin to a man carefully poised on high-tension wire. Nudging subject matter around the edges of a square has the potential to create tension or energy, and the use of internal space in the square can create emphasis or a settled stability.”