Photo Exhibit Explores Captured Moments

Norm Hinsey, 52, of Haddonfield, is the curator of "Candid", a new exhibit at the Markeim Arts Center. It marks his seventh show at the Markeim, and he speaks enthusiastically about the show and the medium of digital photography, which opens the door for photographers at all levels of experience.

"With digital photography, there's no barrier to entry. Everyone can get in, and everyone can be reasonably proficient. You don't need to know F-stop and shutter speed anymore. You just point and shoot. But part of the artistic value is the artistic intent as well. Any amateur can take a phenomenal picture. It makes it a little less exclusive. Anyone can enter the game."

The exhibit showcases 100 photographs, and artists ranging in age from 18-80 have contributed candid works utilizing both digital cameras and traditional film. It opened on Monday and  runs through Feb. 18. A reception will be held on Jan. 28. All photographs in the show are on sale with prices ranging from $40-$500. The gallery is located at Lincoln Avenue and Walnut Street.

Francesco Gambino, 24, of Cherry Hill, still uses his first camera, a 1970's Cannon AV1 which he considers "a marvel of technology." He revels in the difference between digital and film photography.

"Working in a darkroom and using chemicals to develop a picture, the whole process of it is so much more rewarding," Gambino said. "To have that final product, knowing that everything you did to create that print, whether it was dodging and burning or the duration of chemicals that you used, it's much more of a scientific process. It's more rewarding, because with digital, you just take a picture and you print it. There's only so much you can do with it. And it is getting better. It's getting closer to the quality and resolutions, but film is so much more connected to the artists themselves."

Laura Storck, 37, of Haddon Heights, agrees. "I love the way film looks," she says. "With digital, you just don't get the same quality."

Storck recently resumed  photography after a hiatus. She prefers taking pictures while she's traveling and uses a digital camera to capture moments she might not otherwise be able to with film.

"If something moves me, if I see something unusual, something that's not mundane, I take it," Storck said. "Everything is so fresh in a new city, you see things differently than the people who are there. It's a fresh eye."

Dyann Paoline, 60, of Haddonfield, is enjoying having her photos in her first exhibition. She's been involved with photography since the '80s but has just now found the confidence to submit her work.

"I just love art and I love the art form of photography; the candidness of it, capturing that special moment and finding beauty in something that you just pass every day."

Now, she has her own website: www.memoriesandmoonbeams.com, a greeting card company which features photos she has taken. She values the ability the digital medium has given her to quickly capture a moment and review it instantly. "I just went digital about two years ago. It's really, really neat to be able to see your pictures right away," she says.

Whether digital or film, the candid photos in the exhibit utilize fleeting moments to tell a story.

"We are surrounded by continuous moments," Hinsley said. "A candid photo captures that one moment; the serendipity of the world around us. To capture it gives us the ability to get lost in the moment itself."

And, he says, digital photos specifically are an art form which can create a strong connection between the artist and the audience because the artistic intent is captured in the image itself rather than the photograph as an object.

"A daguerreotype, for example, is a magical object. A digital image captures a really compelling image and a moment, but it's not an object. You can make thousands of them. You can put them online. And does that devalue the worth of the artistic intent? I would argue it doesn't. And I would argue that it doesn't have to be about the physical thing. It can be about the image itself. And the image that one captures, if it's special enough, has artistic merit and has artistic value."

Hinsey is also excited to have the opportunity to give voice to amateur photographers in this exhibition.

"This is the other thing about taking an amateur image versus a professional image. The artist's back story also has interest to us. We get interested in the artists themselves. When you look at a show and you read about the person doing the artwork and you see a body of work about their images, you start to see that person in that work and that makes an intimate connection with that artist. We're all seeking intimate connections everywhere we go whether we know it or not, so it's very positive to have that connection and that's what makes the work attractive."

Among the artists dropping off their works to be hung, it was clear that there were different perspectives on the traditional method of film versus digital technology. Whit McGinley, 57, of Haddonfield, has several photos in the exhibit. He is struck by the theme "Candid" and the way in which it brings the artist's intent to the audience, regardless of the medium.

Says McGinely, "A photo freezes a moment in time, and it's the vision of the photographer seeing that moment in time that gives it life."

For more information, visit the Markheim's website at www.markeimartcenter.org.