This exhibit will be up at Cianfrani's until January 2011.
When I arranged for this exhibit I was told I'd have a lot more space on the walls than I actually have, so I've had to scale back the number of prints on display this time around. I'm grateful to have this great space and hope that I'll be asked back for another show. I moved to Austin from Portland, Oregon, two years ago and found a landscape so different from the lushness of the Pacific Northwest. Sure, Austin is hill-country and it's greener than the rest of Texas, but it’s so different from the forests of Oregon. I’m not a traditional landscape “nature” photographer, you know that by now, but the light, heat, and brownness of Central Texas continues to test my skills as a photographer. Nothing could have prepared me for this… NOTHING! These photos represent only a small sample of an ongoing essay that I call “myTexas,” a combination of people and places that represent this unique “landscape,” which I am quickly coming to appreciate and understand. I spell that with a lowercase "m" since I could never be bigger than anything Texan. I don't even have to tell you what they say about Texas. I'm not originally from Texas. I was raised mostly in New York City, lived there most of my life, a city kid. The street is where I played as a kid; box-ball, handball, stickball, skateboarding, street hockey, always on the street. There’s a pace to a big city that makes me feel alive. myTexas is almost the exact opposite of my beginnings, and what I see ‘round these parts. A close friend from my teenage years sent me a link to Lyle Lovett's song That's Right - Your Not from Texas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQoXnz3h_FE The photographs in this exhibit were all shot on film, developed, and printed on Gelatin Silver paper in my home darkroom. People ask why I continue to shoot and develop film, and it’s not because I think film is better than digital. So much of what I do for my real job is intangible, mostly on a computer. So when I got back into photography after many years away, I wanted a physical connection with my art. I wanted something tactile, something I could touch and feel, kind of like sculpture, painting, or ceramics. I hope that you enjoy looking and seeing myTexas. This is my first exhibition at Cianfrani’s and I’m excited to be here. Thanks Phyllis Cianfrani and Brian Maxwell of Cianfrani, Don Snell, Ruth Roberts, and my wife Julie Akers for your support and encouragement. If you like what you see here please let the staff know; I’d love to come back with more photos from this essay in the future. Here's a link to the photos in the exhibit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gumanow/sets/72157625168223743/ Please drop me a comment here on this blog. If you are interested in purchasing a print, framed or unframed, please contact me.
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Photo by: David Parmenter Wow... what can I say? What a tremendous outpouring of generosity from all of those that came to this reception, and from those that couldn't attend. I only hope that you had as good a time as I did. Starbuck's was very gracious to open this up for my reception, and went so far as to provide free refreshments! Jill, the manager at this Starbuck's is fantastic and a real supporter of local artists. If you are ever in this Starbuck's please ask for her, tell her I sent you, and say "Thanks for supporting local Austin artists!" She rocks! She breaks the mold of what you would think of a corporate giant like Starbuck's! I never thought that the outcome would be that I come away inspired by those that of you that came out. You gave me new ideas, new ways to think about this essay, and new inspiration to continue. So, in closing here: I'd like to especially send a shout-out to Frank Brinsley, http://www.flickr.com/photos/fbrinsley/, a flickr contact that I have been in touch with for over two years. This was our first face-to-face meeting and he drove from Tucson, Arizona for this reception. Thanks for making the trip. And to Julie Akers, www.flickr.com/photos/i5prof my wife, that put up with my obsessiveness of this reception leading up to it. I wouldn't have done this without your pushing and prodding. You are a true love and inspiration! Thank you! Thank you for coming and hope you had a great time, and we can do this again in the not too distant future. Regards, Gary |
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