Current Show
Reflections on the Edge / Altered Egos
photographs by Elizabeth Opalenik
July 29 to September 25, 2016
Opening Reception 5–9 p.m. Friday, July 29 — artist talk and book signing
For this series of work, Elizabeth Opalenik transforms the body into images that evoke allegorical connections, be it memory, a moment in time or a feeling vaguely recalled.
“Without digital manipulation, using her model, a few simple props, the light and uncanny play of reflection, she conjures visions of ethereal figures in a realm of layered, painterly color. She credits artists Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt, and Fernando Botero as inspirations, because like them she uses color, distortion, and skewed perspective to evoke a visceral response. Opalenik begins to bridge painting and photography with this work, and by printing her images on handmade Japanese paper she further accentuates this quality. Her compositions are haunting, beautifully orchestrated happenstance, created in partnership with movements of air, water, and color.”
—Helaine Glick, Curator of this exhibit at the Verve Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Elizabeth's innovative images are represented, collected and shown internationally and have been profiled in most major photographic publications. From her base in Oakland California, for nearly 30 years, she has conducted photography workshops in the United States, France, Italy, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Iceland, Argentina, Indonesia, and Australia, privately and in conjunction with The Maine Media Workshops, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, The British Guild of Portrait Photographers, Stanford Continuing Education, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Les Rencontres d’Arles, National Geographic Expeditions and the Photography Center of the Capital District, among others.
To view images from her monograph Poetic Grace: Elizabeth Opalenik Photographs 1979-2007 please visit www.elizabethopalenik.com.
There will be an artist talk and book signing during the opening reception on July 29 during Troy Night Out. Some of her work and books will be available for purchase for the duration of the exhibit.
On a personal note, Elizabeth has been my mentor, friend, adviser and artistic inspiration since I first enrolled in her workshop at the Center for Photography at Woodstock over 20 years ago. In addition to subsequent additional workshops there, she has conducted seven in the Capital Region in diverse locations including Art Omi, a restored Troy Victorian house, an architecturally modern house, a Voorheesville Inn, the former Fulton Street Gallery, and the Photography Center. It is an honor to display her exquisite unique work at the Photography Center Gallery and Camera Museum.
— Nicholas Argyros
Future Shows & Events
Members Show Opens September 30
September 30–October 20, 2016
Opening Reception 5–9 p.m. Friday, September 30
The tenth annual Members Show, open to all photographers who are current PhotoCenter members, highlights the variety of photographic visions of the PhotoCenter’s talented members. Thirty-four members entered their work for the show. We will have more than seventy outstanding prints on exhibit. The opening reception is Friday, September 30, from 5 to 9 p.m. Vote for your favorites for the Peoples Choice award.
The show catalogue will be available for $25. Be sure to reserve your copy now!
Previous Shows
38th Annual Photo Regional Salon
January 29–February 12
Some photos exhibited at the PhotoCenter and some at the Fulton Street Gallery in advance of selections for the 2016 annual Photo Regional hosted by the Fulton Street Gallery from February 20 to April 2.
Branson Quenzer and Juan Suárez
North Korea and Cuba: Stagnation and Flux
February 20–April 3
This exhibit features works by Branson Quenzer and Juan Suárez. Quenzer recently visited North Korea and photographed there in his inimitable style. Suárez from Cuba balances several occupations including photographer/taxi driver which offers him perspectives of life in Havana. Two diverse cultures — one great exhibit.
Suárez’s intimate views of Havana and Quenzer’s inimitable photographic style offer viewers unique perspectives of these societies. The images are presented without titles and are available for purchase.
About Branson Quenzer
For more than a decade, Quenzer has chased bygone eras in a vastly changing Chinese landscape, getting a final glimpse of the simple ways of the peasants and the countryside’s of northeast China before the economic boom sweeps them away. Beyond northeast China, Quenzer also spends an inordinate amount of time travelling without a destination, rather a general direction guided by instinct. He has a master’s degree in economics giving him a concept of seeing the world through a system of interlinking processes and changes which he explores in his photography and art. He is originally from New Mexico.”
Quenzer has written numerous photo tips on the Digital Photography School site based on his extensive traveling experiences.
http://bransonq360.com
https://500px.com/bransonquenzer
http://digital-photography-school.com/author/bransonquenzer
About Juan Suárez
Juan Suárez (born in Havana in1971) is a photographer, engineer, and private taxi driver. He studied electronic engineering at a military institute and graduated in 1996. After leaving the army, he became a private taxi driver to make a living. It was his father who first got interested in photography, but after reading some books, photography became also Juan’s passion.
In 2009, he took part in his first photography contest at www.cubainformacion.com and won. He is not interested in studio photos, but in showing what happens on the Cuban streets. By the end of 2013, he joined www.Havanatimes.org as a photographer. Now he also works for www.Diariodecuba.com.
In 2015, he took part in his second photography contest, organized by the US Embassy under the title Lazos (Ties). The topic was the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States. Juan was awarded with an honorable mention.”
Quenzer met Suárez during his visit to Cuba last year. It was the former’s idea to create a joint exhibition of images from these countries where photography can be forbidden. North Korea is closed to most outsiders. Since Quenzer resides much of the time in northeastern China, and is fluent in languages, he found a way to enter adjacent North Korea, one of the most restricted and controlled countries on earth, yet in the news almost daily.
Cuba, after years of restrictions, has recently had warmer political and economic relations with the USA. In both countries, the stagnation of decades under totalitarian rule is evident. Both are in flux.
2016 Student Show
April 15–May 15, 2016
Thirty students from high schools and colleges in the region participated this year. Entries were from Emma Willard, SUNY New Paltz, St. Rose, Niskayuna, Green Mountain College, RPI, SUNY Albany, Troy HS, Hudson Valley CC, Sage, and Fulton Montgomery CC.
Best of 2015 Show
May 27 to July 3, 2016
Sixty images selected from among the finest images made during the past year. Come visit, vote for Peoples Choice award.More than 70 visitors to the show voted for their favorite images.
Their choices were diverse and spread across many entries with the expression "It's so hard to choose, so much interesting work."
For many photographers who had two images on display, the votes were often split, diluting and spreading the count.
These are the works that garnered at least 5 votes (number of votes indicated):
12 William LeGere “Riverview (the Studio)”
10 Tom Killips “Magic of Christmas”
8 John Berninger “The Wemp Barn”
8 Chris Demarco “Beach Boxes”
8 Chris Demarco “Into the Fog”
7 Tom Killips “Soccer Storm”
7 Christine Zacher “Abanakee Dock”
7 Gail Nadeau æOverlook in Fog”
7 Trish Hennessey “Horses Standing”
6 Ralph Rio “Hair of the Dog”
6 Gail Nadeau “Lone Tree”
6 Jill PeckVona “Downton Abbey”
6 Jill PeckVona “Remember Mamma”
6 Ray Felix “Portrait”
5 Ralph Rio “Open Window”
5 Ron Schubin “Moon over San Francisco”
5 Dan McCormack “Caitlin”
5 William LeGere “PennySaver”
5 Connie Frisbee Houde “Bales of Charcoal”
Kayla Coons: Relations Absent and Near
July 8–23, 2016
Opening Reception 5–9 p.m. Friday, July 8
Kayla Coons has exhibited extensively in the Capital Region in the past few years, first as a student in the Sage College and in Photography Center's student shows, recently in the select exhibit of the Photo Regional. Her work has consistently displayed a bold and creative “edge-iness,” in many ways both very personal yet universal. In the past few years, Kayla has assisted at the Photography Center in various capacities, especially curating and installing exhibitions. In this exhibit, she is hanging her own, so to speak.
In its ten-year existence, the Photography Center has hosted only a handful of solo exhibitors. We are proud to add Kayla Coons to that short list with this exhibit Relations Absent and Near.
The Photography Center Gallery's Exhibition Policies
Liability and Insurance
Artists’ work while on display or in the proper custody of the Photography Center per exhibition agreements will be insured between the designated drop-off and pickup dates against damage or loss for the full value of all materials which can be documented as comprising the artwork, unless the artist can demonstrate that similar artwork by the artist has been previously sold for the listed selling price, in which case the insured value in case of damage or loss will be half of the listed selling price.
The gallery is not responsible for the insurance of the work during transit or after last pickup date. The artist will be responsible for adhering to all deadlines and schedules imposed by the gallery and for the arranging the
drop-off and pickup of their work. No work may be removed before the end
of the exhibit.
Commission
The Gallery's commission on sold work is thirty (30) percent.
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