Images by Steve Harris, Ken Fowkes, and Allyson Ely Selected by PhotoPlace Gallery
Ellen Gilkerson | Published on 7/1/2024
Images by PACC members Steve Harris, Ken Fowkes, and Allyson Ely were selected for the Abstraction Exhibition at the PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont. Abstract images can combine shapes, color, pattern, texture and imagination to create images that are largely independent of visual reality. PhotoPlace solicited abstract lens-based images made and modified in whatever way the artists chose. The juror was Janet Jeffers, a Maryland-based photographer whose work explores intimate and abstract details in both natural and manmade worlds. Thirty-five Images were selected for Exhibition Gallery in Middlebury, and an additional forty images were selected for display in the Online Gallery on the PhotoPlace Gallery website. The exhibition will take place from August 2 through August 23.
Georgia, Steve’s image, was awarded Honorable Mention and will be shown in the Exhibition Gallery.
Steve says:
I made this image in July 2023 in Santa Fe, as part of an ICM photography workshop, with instructor Stephanie Johnson. On the first day, after we visited the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, we were free to start photographing around the main plaza downtown. There was one storefront with a mannequin that caught my eye, and I started shooting. The next day in class, we shared our work, and when I showed this image, Stephanie asked if it was a photo of one of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings. It was not, of course, but like her, I felt that connection between this image and O’Keeffe’s art, as have many others when they first see “Georgia.” The other thing very special to me about this image is that I met Bill Lazar that same day. We bonded right away, and have become close friends since. So “Georgia” will always remind me of both the wonderful experience I had at the workshop, and especially, of my newfound friend.
Steve Harris:
Georgia
Ken’s image, Identity Confusion, was awarded Honorable Mention and was selected for the Exhibition Gallery.
Ken says:
Identity Confusion is a long exposure with camera motion, of the twisty bare branches of a corkscrew willow tree that used to be in my backyard. Over about two years, starting in December 2016, I captured over 4000 such photos – so many that I still occasionally discover ones that I overlooked. This is one of over 300 that I captured one day in May 2018. I rediscovered it last year, and processed with the goal of making the face I noticed stand out.
Ken Fowkes:
Identity Confusion
Allyson’s image, Enigma Variation No. 2, was selected for the Online Gallery.
Allyson says:
This image is from The Enigma Variation series: images that capture reflected light from large, plate glass surfaces creating abstractions. I am interested in compositions that appear to be three dimensional, where line, form and shape are revealed, and light is a dominant element. Generally, I avoid reflections of people, but in this instance I liked the mystery created by the shadows of people passing by.
Allyson Ely:
Enigma Variation No. 2