Viewpoint Gallery will present the work of Christopher Rauschenberg in an exhibition called Paris: Walking with Atget. For these photographs, Rauschenberg revisited Paris locations photographed by the French photographer Eugene Atget in the early 20th century, rephotographing the same views at the end of the 20th century to reveal what had changed and what had not. Paris: Walking with Atget includes 40 of Rauschenberg’s silver prints, many of them paired with copies of Atget’s original images.
Viewpoint Exhibit History
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents the work of Ivan Sohrakoff in the Step Up Gallery at Viewpoint during the month of August. A Woodland photographer, Sohrakoff has been photographing for 17 years but has been photographing color landscapes with a passion since late 2009. Sohrakoff’s exhibit is called “The Lines of Landscape.” From man-made bridges to natural rock formations, the lines of landscape guide our eyes around the world. Sometimes elegant, sometimes blunt, these lines can manifest themselves as obvious vanishing points or as subtle elements that help lead a viewer through the scene.
Fifteen North American photographers celebrate the new decade immersed in the remote cultures, ancient temple architecture, stunning landscapes, and UNESCO World Heritage sites of Cambodia and Myanmar, Southeast Asia’s second largest county (formerly known as Burma). Under the direction of photographer and educator Rick Murai of Penn Valley, California, and in partnership with Myths and Mountains, each participant on this excursion captures unique and personal interpretations of urban and rural historical sites and cultural landmarks defining these Southeast Asian countries. Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s politically charged capital, and Tuol Sleng Prison and the Killing Fields – sobering testaments to the Khmer Rouge – are visited, as is Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar.
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center proudly presents the work of Jon Sousa, a California photographer who shares for the first time one of four portfolios based on his travels in the States and abroad. With thirty-five years of photography experience as a photo educator at the high school and community college level, as well as having owned and operated Jon Sousa Photography doing portrait work, Sousa now turns his attention to his personal vision. In this body of work, The Human Touch, Sousa’s images incorporate the relationship between his favorite model and evocative architectural settings.
In its main gallery in May, Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents Day to Night, a collection of images by Jennifer Wu, made between dusk and dawn, during the hours when many photographers have set their cameras aside.
“I found great joy the night I discovered that the camera sees more than our eyes can see,” says Jennifer, an accomplished landscape and nature photographer. She found that the kinds of exposures needed for moonlit or starlit landscapes showed many more stars in the sky than she saw with the naked eye. Experimenting with the low-light capabilities of current high-end digital cameras, she developed techniques to maximize the detail in the sky and the landscape while portraying the stars as points of light rather than as the ‘star trail’ lines characteristic of the long exposures needed when photographing the same types of scenes with film cameras.
Entries for Twelve: Parallels have been selected. Congratulations to our winners and all the photographers whose work is in the exhibit, and a big Thank You to everyone who submitted images! The winners are:
1st Place: James Gilmore, Memory and Metaphor
2nd Place: Eric Baral, Cell Phone Diptych 2
3rd Place: Gordon Reynolds, Johns
Honorable Mention: Dan Herrera, The Carapace
Honorable Mention: Diane Tempest, Parallel Shoes
Honorable Mention: Roberta Neidigh, Five Trees
Viewpoint Gallery’s annual juried exhibit Twelve encourages photographers to interpret an idea suggested by the theme of the show. This year’s theme “Parallels” alludes to the year 2011 itself with its obvious numeric parallel. But it also invites photographers to conjure connections and relatedness within the photographic frame. Entries for Twelve: Parallels will contrast, compare, illuminate, suggest, capture, and express photographers' varied approaches to this theme. In addition to single images, Twelve: Parallels will feature multiple images in diptychs, triptychs and polyptychs.
Ten Eyes is a group of Sacramento women photographers who began meeting monthly in 1983 to show and critique each other’s work. Originally five in number, the group has grown to include more women who share a passion for creating photographic art. This exhibition is a collaborative effort to present images taken by each member of the Ten Eyes group of places visited and objects acquired during their travels.
The women of Ten Eyes exhibiting are:
| Liz Welsh Abad | Dolores Frank | Victoria Ruderman |
| Karen Connell | Francine Moskovitz | Ilse Spivek |
| Anita Frimkess Fein | Shirley Plant | Judy Yemma |
Chris Kaufman's exhibit Military Moments documents the experiences of men and women in the armed forces, including Beale Air Force Base, and the communities that support them. “The service members of Beale and the surrounding community are passionate about the military, and it's important to give them a voice and tell their story."
Jeff Enlow’s project Behind the Levees is about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where California's two largest rivers meet. It's a place that exists in some distant past while being thrust into an uncertain future. Behind the Levees captures quiet spaces in the Delta where man and nature meet, at a time that may never exist like this again.
Hidden in remote areas of Nevada and adjacent states are beautiful rock engravings known as petroglyphs. They record the visions and dreams of ancient Native Americans. Many are thousands of years old, and most are completely unknown to the public; their existence has been kept secret to protect them from vandalism.
World renowned photographer John Wimberley spent ten years searching for these fragile, irreplaceable cultural treasures. During this time he visited more than 100 sites and exposed 5000 large format negatives. His stunning black and white photographs reveal the beauty and profound sacredness of shamanic images in stone.
Chris Schiller has been photographing the American West for over 20 years. He seeks out places and views rarely or never photographed before. He uses his camera as another way to explore the places he visits, bringing his images a sense of discovery and delight. In this exhibit of superbly crafted images, Chris Schiller looks at the movement of water in all of its manifestations, both in the present and the past.
In October, Viewpoint's 20th Year Celebration culminates with Vintage Contemporary: The Charter Members Show, an exhibit of work by many of the original members of Viewpoint Photographic Art Center. The Vintage Contemporary exhibit will showcase the work of over 50 charter members and celebrate Viewpoint's continuing role in the community. The title encourages artists to show older work created using traditional photographic media or current work in digital or alternative processes. In fact, some artists may choose to exhibit paintings, mixed media, video, or other media to reflect their ever-evolving artistic interests.
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents the work of Keith Berger in the Step Up Gallery during the month of September. The exhibit is titled “Fleeting Impressions.” Keith Berger, a Viewpoint member, makes photographs of the wonders of nature, both large and small, and of coastal scenes and cityscapes. He has begun a series of photographic projects focusing on abstractions and reflections that view everyday scenes and objects in new ways.
Click here for complete auction details
The April exhibit showcases contributions to this year’s Fine Print Auction. Featured photographers include Howard Bond, Martha Casanave, Mark Citret, Richard Garrod, Kate Jordahl, Koichiro Kurita, C. Cameron Macauley, Richard Murai, Dianne Poinski, Merg Ross, Ryuijie, and John Wimberley.
In addition to viewing this exhibit, visitors have the opportunity to purchase their favorite prints directly, or to cast a silent bid for their preferred photographs. The excitement culminates on the evening of May 1st, when attendees compete for favored prints to be acquired in true Auction style complemented with wine and hors d’œuvres.
Photographers Ruth Henderson and Richard Ashby come together from different approaches to amaze, confound, and astound us, with their images of flowers. Brilliant, compelling imagery abounds, and forms both precise and mysteriously obscured dazzle us.
Richard Ashby, using a variety of orchid specimens, seems to have created an alternate universe. We find ourselves wandering in it while we marvel at this extravaganza of shape and color. Ruth Henderson, using her combination of multiple light sources, slight camera motion and brief time lapse, compresses what amounts to a tiny motion picture into a single image, all in camera.
Viewpoint Gallery presents an exhibit of exceptional images by noted photographers David Gardner and Stephen Johnson, who both look closely at the Earth—its wild places and the influence of man.
For David Gardner, the impetus for Marking Our Place in the World came from a tree—festooned with shoes—beside U.S. Highway 50 in Nevada. After photographing it he started digging through his car for his own piece of footwear that he could add—and then he stopped, not really understanding why he’d experienced that odd impulse. He is interested in that impulse and its result as applied to the landscape. Gardner says: “As humans we must communicate – it is what we do best. Why are we compelled to ‘leave our mark’ upon landscape, whether or not others understand its meaning or semiology?”
Exquisite Earth is an extraordinary collection of works by photographer Stephen Johnson, one of the original masters of digital photography. These dramatic images were created in Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, Iceland, the American West, and elsewhere. “The grouping," says Johnson, "... is meant to convey my deep appreciation for this extraordinary planet we call home.”
Dark on Light, the January 2011 exhibit at Viewpoint Gallery, is the poetic exploration of two photographers both working in black and white.
Paul Rider’s “Drawn to the Light” images are abstract studies of light and shadow on paper, transformations that are contemplative and calming. The light strikes the curving paper revealing tension on the torn edges and palpable texture. Rider sees these as symbolic of world tension and conflict yet also envisions them as representative of hope and peace.
Larry Blackwood’s “Opus Corvus” is a study of ravens and crows with dark and mysterious overtones. He captivates the viewer with an unspoken narrative of movement, grace, and survival. There are overtones not unlike a gothic novel in this timeless environment and beautiful photographs.
In March 2012, Viewpoint Photographic Art Center is presenting something different. An internationally supported photography website will be featured, presenting the works by 15 photographers who serve or have served as gatekeepers for the vast collaboration known as 1X.
1X (1x.com) is an online photo gallery and social network. 1X differs from most other photo sites in that every photo displayed has been handpicked by a group of curators. The images on display at the Viewpoint Gallery during the month of March are selected works of past and present curators, including Viewpoint member Jerry Berry.
Only through the Internet could a group of photographers from 
different regions of the world get together and collaborate, become friends and curate world images for a site such as 1x.com. Jacob Jovelou and Ralf Stelander, from Uppsala, Sweden, have brought together these photographers by inviting them to evaluate images to publish on the front page of their website, 1X. With the basic premise of the site’s mission, Searching for the Sublime, these passionate photographers bring their varied viewpoints and often conflicting opinions to discussions on the relative strengths and weaknesses of each individual photograph submitted for publication on 1X.
The Live Photographers Society was organized over thirty-five years ago by Lloyd Fergus and others in the Sacramento area with the purpose to meet and share photographs, food, and conversation. The practice continues to this day. The group’s name was inspired by the movie, The Dead Poets Society. Five members of The Live Photographers Society are participating in this exhibit: George Erdosh, Lloyd Fergus, David Lindquist, Paul Mohr, and Gilbert Todd.
Photography’s very name is light. Photographers have long known the magic of mysterious shadows, dust-speckled light beams, whirls of spinning artificial light, the simple elegance of reflection, and the powerful moods created by contrast.
The December 2009 exhibit is Viewpoint’s first annual juried show. Photographers from throughout northern California submitted their interpretations of the theme, The Play of Light, exploring photographic interpretations of captured, held, and translated light. Close to 400 photographs were entered from approximately 90 photographers; 96 images will be exhibited, some in our new adjoining gallery.
In the third of a consecutive series of exhibits featuring color photographs of nature, Viewpoint Gallery presents the work of Rex Naden in the Step Up Gallery. After thirty-five years in the semiconductor industry, he now spends full time as a photographer of the natural landscape.
In November, Viewpoint’s Step Up Gallery features Rhonda Campbell’s exhibit exploring the cultural and psychological aspects of our ubiquitous doppelgangers from the retail environment: mannequins.
Campbell relates that this series began “with a simple photograph I took (and not a very good photograph at that),” a photograph that led her to understand that what she was photographing in storefront windows was “more than just mannequins; they’re life as we wish it to be.” She began looking closely at mannequins in her travels. “The more I looked, the more I found.” She found questions: “Does life reflect the mannequins or do they reflect life? Do they mock us or set standards?” And she found insights: “People are the same the world over. We all have the same dreams of glamor, sophistication, confidence, humor, and purpose. Mannequins give us that freedom to dream, if only for a few seconds.”
Viewpoint Gallery presents the work of two regional photographers whose focus is the landscape of the Sacramento area and Central Valley.
Stephen Fischer photographs along the American River Parkway, a beltway of undeveloped land on both sides of the river. It provides a natural sanctuary from the nearby hustle and bustle of the Sacramento metropolitan area. It is also a byway and habitat of the natural world that coexists within our developed environment and passes through and thrives along this photographic wonderland: nature’s corridor. Fischer’s photographs are in color and are seen primarily in the early and late hours of the day.
Gerry Tsuruda's beltway consists of the white lines, asphalt, and gravel of the ordinary and ubiquitous “roadway,” this landscape photographer’s most frequent path to successful pictures. Tsuruda has realized that most of his better images were taken from a spot along the side of the road or other easily accessible area nearby. This is certainly contrary to the romantic notion of the landscape photographer, but not indicative of a drop-off in the quality of seeing. Whereas Fischer’s images are in color, Tsuruda works in the monochromatic palette of black-and-white photographic tones.
From Where I Stand is a group exhibit of photography students from ten high schools in Sacramento, California, and the surrounding region. Working with both traditional and digital media, the one hundred photographs in the exhibit demonstrate the energetic, experimental and fresh perspective of these young artists. Clearly the points of view are individual, as the title of the exhibit suggests, yet the subjects and attitudes reflect the common concerns and experiences of today’s young student artists. The photographs illustrate technical competence in night exposures, portraits, landscape, motion studies, digital high dynamic range, black and white, and color images.
Viewpoint Gallery presents two exhibits in the Main Gallery during the month of August: Vaudeville by Dan Herrera, and Glass Works by Gary Shallcross.
In Vaudeville, Dan Herrera’s stated purpose is to create “beautiful images that engage us in mysterious narratives, at once futuristic and nostalgic.” The series combines Herrera’s childhood love of building dioramas with his fascination with contemporary science fiction. Herrera initiates each image by constructing a miniature set of found objects. “Through a series of laborious and anachronistic processes,” Herrera says, he “combines photographs of these carefully lighted sets with digital images of people and life-size props.” He uses 19th-century printing techniques in the final development steps, adding gestural effects that enrich his explorations of distinctions between photographic realism and painterly illusion.
In Glass Works, Gary Shallcross has photographed common pieces of glassware so that “the beauty of the shapes of these ordinary objects is amplified through the refractory characteristics of the glass that can only be realized through the photographic medium. The light source not only illuminates the glass but becomes subject matter itself.”
Viewpoint Gallery presents the works of local photographers Dianne Poinski and Donald Satterlee in an exhibition titled “Visions of Translucence,” during the month of September.
Translucent: permitting light to pass, but diffusing it so that objects on the opposite side are not clearly visible
Photographers Satterlee and Poinski bring their work together for this exhibit, combining the translucent effects of light as well as a similar vision. While the subject matter of their pictures may differ, it is the quality of subtle tonality, luminosity in nature, texture and simple but striking compositions that pull all the elements together to create an emotional viewing experience.
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