Celebrating Nature All Around Us, a show by Tunbridge, Vt., photographer Henry Swayze, is to be on display at the Tunbridge Public Library from June 1 to August 11, 2012. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 1, from 7-9 p.m. A short gallery talk will be held at 8 p.m. The public is invited. The library is located on Route 110 in Tunbridge village, across from the Post Office, about five miles north of Route 14. The library’s hours are Monday and Wednesday, 3-8 p.m., Thursday and Friday, 3-6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call librarian Jean Wolfe at 802-889-9404 for more information.
Artist's Statement:
"This is a collection of more than 50 images mostly from Vermont and many from Tunbridge. Many are grouped in triptychs. The images are nearly all color and range in size from 5x7 inches to 20 X 30 inches. These are focused on our landscape and natural surroundings. I hope this collection will encourage each of us to generate a habit of seeing our environment as we go about our lives. We live in a beautiful world.
Technical data: Photographs mostly taken since 2009 with a Sony 14 MP A350 digital single lens reflex using two lenses, a Minolta 50mm f1.7 lens and a Minolta “beer can” 70-210mm f4 zoom lens. I chose this camera because I like the way the old “A” mount Minolta lenses rendered color and how they treated the out-of-focus part of the image."
Bio:
"I started making pictures when I was very young. My father and to some extent my mother made photographs before me. All the family learned to develop and print our own black and white photos with the windowless front hall of our New York City apartment becoming a temporary blackout zone for developing and printing. By the time I was 13, I had converted my very small bedroom into a full time darkroom with counters built above my bed and the window permanently sealed. In my early 20s, I studied briefly with Paul Caponigro. He told me to just go for it and gave me a wonderful film and developer combination to work with. Once I had moved to our Tunbridge farm and started a family, photography went on hold and it is only recently in my late 60s and early 70s that I have become active again. I still love the images that come from working on medium format single emulsion films developed in compensating developers and printed on silver emulsion paper, but digital keeps me out of the darkroom and gives me immediate feedback with which to improve my work."
