Chatham Arts Advocate Displays Photo Series

If you are looking for an escape from the wintry weather, you need go no further than Drip Coffee in Madison, where the photographs of Ann Frommer will take you on a visual journey through the picturesque cafés of Europe.

Frommer, a Chatham resident and photographer, finds inspiration through her love for travel. "My photographs are a place in time that can reach out to you and you can put yourself in that picture."

Along with her husband, Robert, Frommer has traveled extensively, spending quite a bit of time in Hungary, her husband's country of origin.

"It was in Hungary that I began taking photos of cafés and other interesting places we found" Frommer said. "Friends and other artists encouraged me to continue and to create an exhibit."

The creations of local artists often decorates the walls of Drip, a Madison coffee shop. "We are pleased to feature the work of talented people in the community," owner Rupert Jones said.

The exhibit at Drip, entitled "Duo," also features the paintings Livingston resident Michal Barkai, whose series is called "Little Treasures."

Frommer's photo series, "Dining Alfresco," features colorful pillows on chairs in Mostar, Bosnia, a table with a brilliant green tablecloth in Sicily, deep red blankets marking a dining area in Lizst Square in Budapest and a restaurant on a cobblestone street in the Czech Republic.

 Speaking about her European discoveries, Frommer said, "What I find traveling is, you might see a shabby building that has a beautiful window box full of flowers, and that's where your eyes go and you forget the shabby building. It's just magic."

Frommer took art courses at NYU, though her major took her into the healthcare field. She spent 16 years with Atlantic Health and served as a director at Morristown Memorial Hospital.

When she volunteered to oversee a company newsletter, "The Alert," Frommer's artistic savvy turned the publication into an award-winning quality assurance magazine. "That experience brought me back into the realm of photography," Frommer said.

Frommer's love affair with the camera began as a child. She grew up in a farming community in Pennsylvania and said, "My mother loved to garden and she often photographed me with her flowers. And when I was 13 my father fixed up our basement and made me a darkroom."

Frommer also spent her afternoons working at a photography store in town after attending school in a one-room schoolhouse.

"It is such a pleasure to do photography as a second career," Frommer said.  In addition to her exhibition at Drip, Frommer's work has been displayed at the County Library, Roberts Theatre, Papermill Playhouse, The Madison Library, The Library of the Chathams, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Overlook Hospital and the Atrium Gallery in the courthouse in Morristown. She has also served as Secretary for the Art League of the Chathams for five years.

 is located at 34 Main Street in Madison. The exhibit runs through Feb. 27.