Viewpoint Exhibit History

In November, Viewpoint’s Main Gallery features three photographers – David Ashcraft, Jimmy Fike, and Magnus Stark – who have three very different approaches to making photographic art.

David Ashcraft is a Californian whose work fits comfortably in the tradition of West Coast photography. He studied with many of the iconic West Coast photographers, including John Sexton, Richard Garrod, Alan Ross, and Henry Gilpin. His subject matter centers on the hallowed West Cost themes of the natural landscape, closely observed details, and abstractions.

Jimmy Fike’s exhibit comprises selections from his series, J.W. Fike’s Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of the North American Continent. “Within my system,” Fike explains, “the plant is excavated, arranged in the studio, photographed, then illustrated digitally in such a way as to render the edible parts in color while the remaining parts, less emphatically, read as photograms.

Magnus Stark, who was born in Sweden and resides in Bangor, Maine, makes film-based images without using a camera. “Like a chemist in a lab, I experiment with the raw film by sometimes treating it with a variety of common organic substances, before exposing it to extreme elements. What happens to film if you pop it in the microwave? Submerge it in a hot tub? Stick it in the freezer? And what happens if you do that for an hour, a week, a month or a year?”

In Stu Levy’s Grid-Portraits, several negatives are contact-printed in a grid arrangement to create “a space and time scan,” function both as environmental portraiture and as explorations of how we perceive complex imagery. Referring to the phrase Henri Cartier-Bresson famously used to characterize his photographic ideal, Levy states, “this work gives a new meaning to ‘The Decisive Moment’, for the lattice-window view presents a maze of scrambled time and recombinant architecture.”

“Perception involves the visual synthesis of incremental spaces at finite points of time,” Levy explains. “These photographs of artists and craftspeople explore and challenge our perceptive processes by testing the limits of discontinuity, in both space and time, which our brains will accept in reading an image.”

Gary Cawood began his ongoing body of photographs, Excavation, in 2006. “Since the natural landscape is considered expendable in our culture, the surface scars we create seemed like an intriguing subject to explore,” he explains. “I selected sites that were excavated long ago, and at first I focused on the surprising forms and colors created by erosion. Soon I began adding throwaways to the compositions. Like the land, much of the stuff we buy is considered disposable and makes its way to sites like these. I utilized the scarred landscape as a context for the stuff we abandon.”

In the latest images in the evolving project, Cawood finds himself drawn to “the castoffs of the landscape itself rather than man-made stuff. By focusing more on the natural elements, the recent work emphasizes the ability of the landscape to recover and reinvent itself, even as we continue to disrupt its inherent balance.”

In August, Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents the photographs of Dale Crandall-Bear in an exhibition called Marking Time: A Journey through Ancient Lands.

“In the spring of 2008,” says Crandall-Bear, “I embarked on a long-anticipated journey into distant time. I sought an encounter with the ancient past – beyond the youth of my own country and beyond the ‘middle age’ of Europe. I found what I was looking for in the deserts of Egypt, in the back alleys of Damascus, and on the barren plains of Anatolia. The images in this exhibit are the photographic impressions of that journey.”

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.

In June, Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents in its main gallery the photographs of László Bencze in an exhibition titled Onsite: Men of Mining.

“Mining companies get a bad rap in the press,” says László. “No one wants a mine in their back yard. On the other hand everyone wants computers, TV sets, cars, cameras, washing machines, cell phones and all the other good stuff of modern culture. And just about all of that good stuff begins life somewhere in the ground.

“The people of mining work hard, safe, and honorably, taking pains to cause as little damage to the environment as possible and remediating that which is inevitable. I have enjoyed my assignments onsite and have come to admire these dedicated workers, craftsmen, and artisans who transform dirt into the raw material of civilization.

In January, Viewpoint Gallery honors Gene Kennedy with a retrospective exhibition that he intriguingly calls 44 Years of Real Estate Photographs.

“For many years, I have struggled to find a single phrase that describes what I do photographically,” Kennedy states. “From nature photography to landscape photography to architectural photography to environmental documentary photography to humorous photography to Gladding McBean photography — nothing covers it all. Recently, as I turned my career energies in a new direction ... I stumbled onto that elusive phrase.”

Donald Fried became fascinated with photography 45 years ago, as a student of architecture, living in Chicago.  From his early days photographing people in Lincoln Park Zoo, bus depots, and other urban settings around Chicago, to later work in portraiture and documenting western landscapes, Fried's photography reflects his lifelong interests in social inquiry and human impact on the environment.

Donald Fried has dedicated his first solo exhibit to autism research. All exhibit proceeds will be donated to the U.C. Davis MIND Institute, 2825 50th Street, Sacramento, 95817.

Viewpoint member Jim Klein of Lincoln will present work at the Step Up Gallery at Viewpoint in March, 2012. The photographs are the result of travel to Utah, a place universally known for its ancient and dramatic landscapes and also its much newer remains of man’s presence.

Klein cites John Szarkowski, famed photographer, critic and historian, who, in his book The Photographer’s Eye, “included Time as one of the defining aspects of photography as an art medium. But his consideration of time had more to do with how much of time was captured by the camera’s shutter than how time is conveyed by the image.”

The two sets of images in this exhibit, a deserted motel on Highway 70 near Moab and abstracts of rocks from Utah’s National Parks, depict the effects of time, and, in another perspective, timelessness.

In October of 2008 over 200 students of all ages joined together to document the economic, educational and cultural transformation occurring in Oak Park, Sacramento’s oldest suburb. The cameras used ranged from high end digital to plastic film cameras from the Dollar Store. Many of the students were from the neighborhood. Between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., more than 20,000 pictures were made. More important, though, were the connections made.

Click here to download the 2012 Auction Contribution Form

The April exhibit at Viewpoint displays the wonderful prints available for purchase in the 2012 Viewpoint Fine Print Auction and Fundraiser. Many well known photographers are featured in this year's the exhibit, along with many other talented Viewpoint members and supporters.

Prints may be purchased now through May 4 in the Online Silent Auction and/or on Saturday, May 5th at the Live Auction. Visit the AUCTION PAGE for the Catalog, the Online Auction, Instant Purchases, Pre-Bidding for the Live Auction, and additional information. 

Larry Brenden searches the Western United States to find compelling natural landscape images. His work conveys greater intimacy than typical landscape photographs and explores nature’s gorgeous color palette. Brenden says:  “I am always looking, but more specifically, I am looking to photograph light, color, and form. To me, photography is all-consuming. A demanding discipline which entails my senses, intellect, and emotion, it is at once my passion and my spiritual base.”

“Using the camera as a tool, my intention is to quietly unveil nature’s secrets with integrity and capture an image true to the scene as first observed. Through the lens I seek to reveal the grandeur of the natural world, uncover her subtleties, show her impressive power, and expose her delicate side. Often, I examine a scene and decipher symmetrical patterns in the seemingly chaotic environment. Recording light and form is at once a fascination and a mystery. It is my goal to present well-crafted, un-doctored, aesthetic prints of the world’s beautifully wild places both to preserve and with full intent to protect.“

A former design engineer in the computer industry, Larry has spent the last decade as a respected photographer of the natural scene.