By CICELA MÅNSSON
Special to the Driftwood
At 24 years and counting, Photosynthesis is the longest continuous photography show on Salt Spring.
This year’s exhibit opened on Aug. 22 to an exuberant crowd, which is remarkable when you consider the number of events occurring on that particular Thursday. Delectables were contributed by Thrifty Foods, Country Grocer and, as usual, by the photographers themselves. Many thanks to Conny and Upper Ganges Liquor Store for a lovely wine service. All of this contributed wonderfully to the crowd’s enjoyment of the opening event for this year’s exhibit, so expertly and beautifully hung by Zoe Zafiris.
The exhibit presents 80 pieces by 22 of Salt Spring’s fine-art photographers spanning the photographic gamut: from wildlife to portraiture to abstract, traditional wet prints (with and without using a lens) to digital compositing, panoramic landscapes to macro. The show maintains a high level of photographic insight, spanning the personal experiences of each artist. Each year, guest artists are included in the group, as well as a student from our local schools.
Howard Fry’s stunning black and white portraits capture the beauty and personality of each of his subjects. Birgit Freybe Bateman unveils the quiet intimate details in commonplace views, Seth Berkowitz and Michael Wall have interestingly different takes on the same subject matter, Anette Schrage shows cold, hard, brittle views that hit deep, while Brian Purcell’s historical views of Montreal show a very different time, and Susan Huber’s image of Sloan’s Gate askew makes this viewer want to draw closer and understand the underlying story.
This viewer urges you to take in the exhibit so that you too may wander through the pieces of exceptional photographic work and experience the varied stories of this wildly diverse exhibit. Photosynthesis is in the ArtSpring gallery, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily until Tuesday, Sept. 3.
This year’s exhibitors include: Birgit Freybe Bateman, Alane Lalonde, Seth Berkowitz, Bernadette Mertens-McAllister, Alan Bibby, Larry Melious, John Denniston (guest artist), Amy Melious, Nirmal Dryden, Pierre Mineau, Howard Fry, Colton Prevost (guest artist), Christina Heinemann, Brian Purcell, Susan Huber, Anette Schrage, Avril Kirby, Julianna Slomka, Susan Kronick (guest artist), Michael Wall, Doug McMillin and Sophie Hermann (student).