BILL ROWLEY - ABSTRACT MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY
LEN SEEVE - PHOTOGRAPHS FROM VIETMAN AND LAOS
FRED RANAUDO - PHOTOGRAPHS FROM CHINA
November 3-29, 2014
RECEPTION: Saturday November 8, 2-4 PM
"These photographs are the products of a month long trip to China in Dec-Jan of 2012. Many of the photos were taken on the island of Xiamen located along the China coast just south of Taiwan. The balance of the pictures are from the Hakka region of Fujian province, several hours inland from Xiamen. Two more disparate cultures would be hard to imagine. The ultimate urban environment in Xiamen is crowded, noisy, energetic, polluted, and straining toward western affluence, while the Hakka people of Fujian are trying to retain the integrity of an ages old clan-based subsistence lifestyle even as they acknowledge the needs of its young to spread their wings. It was not my intention to document so much as be sensitive to visually interesting moments, some particularly Chinese and some more peculiarly human. Hopefully the presentation of these images will provide some interesting visuals and intriguing relationships."
Bill Rowley lives and photographs in Florence. While he rules out nothing as a subject or approach, most of his recent work has been macro in scale and abstract in style. In this "Macrostracts" collection, Bill provides a sampler of some of the techniques and approaches he has used in recent years to obtain his distinctive images.
Len Seeve is a Psychiatrist living in Amherst, MA, where he is an active member of the Pioneer Valley Photographic Artists. He has been photographing for 40 years. His work has been shown at several locations in the Pioneer Valley area, including solo exhibits at the Springfield Museum of Art, Jones Library, Forbes Library, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, the Baystate Medical Center Galleries as well as the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro.
Artist statement: "The subject matter of my photographs almost always plays a secondary role. Each of my works is intended to be viewed as a study in shape, color, and texture. The subjects I choose are widely varied – buildings and bridges often emphasize a certain stark geometric structure; natural scenery can serve as a foundation for experimentation with color and focus. Whatever the subject, my works are images first, reproductions second."
Fred Ranaudo of Florence is a 20-year Valley resident. He divides his time between reinventing old homes, teaching yoga, playing music and finally entering the digital age of photography (albeit kicking and screaming.) This show is his first digital offering.
