Photography at the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center

The Photography Exhibition, A Few of My Favorites: People, Places, Times and Spaces, is on view now at the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center.  The opening reception will be this Thursday evening,  March 12, 2020, from 6pm - 7:30 pm. 

Photography at its best satisfies our wanderlust for other places and reveals to us as well the wonders found in the spaces within our everyday worlds. The art of photography is about place, timing, and the artist’s eye. It is an art of presence and patience - about knowing exactly when and where to snap that shutter. The photographer, alert to beauty and meaning, awaits for moments when both of these converge in the natural world. Their steady hands and aesthetic gaze preserves their presence in those moments. This exquisite sense of presence can be found in awe-inspiring vistas, such as the snow covered peaks of Norway in the art of Nathaniel Wallace, and in the sublime night view of the United States Capitol in the poignant photograph by Bill Carter. We are inescapably present in the artists’ intimate views as well. A pair of working hands with fingernails painted like gems of blue lapis are gently offset by a red handled pair of scissors in Bill Carter’s subtle, yet poignant work. Wallace finds a beautiful moment in a store window in the Netherlands, when a calico cat crouches to unknowingly echo the shapes and colors of the art print that it presides over.

The exhibition, A Few of My Favorities: People, Places, Times and Spaces, is an exploration of unmanipulated or minimally manipulated reflections of observed environments. Nat Wallace’s haunting scenes of weathered buildings and abandoned farmsteads around the Southeast record the effects of nature and time upon man-made objects. Bill Carter captures the spirit and mood of everyday people as well as the intellect of iconic individuals. Both artists depend upon serendipity, exploration, and intuition in their photography. Through their evocative art, their photographs invite an internal narrative between viewer and image. These are images that eschewed the world of snapshots and sound bites, encouraging quiet contemplation and taking the time to observe and reflect.