Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Photographer Paul Rose, left, discusses two of his photographs on display as part of the Downtown Art Place's photography exhibit Thursday in the concourse of the Historic Ironwood Theatre.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood - The public got its first peek at the photographs submitted in this year's Downtown Art Place photography exhibit at the exhibit's opening reception Thursday.
"I'm very pleased with the photography. I'm very pleased with the variety we have," said Peg Sandin, one of the organizers of the exhibit. "This seems to be a wonderful time of year to have a reception, people are anxious to get out after a snowy winter."
The theme of this year's exhibit was "home," according to organizers, and judged by Ryan Tischer who has a photo gallery in Duluth, Minn.
Tischer singled out several photographers for recognition.
Paul Rose, who lives near Fayette Historic State Park on the Garden Peninsula in the southern Upper Peninsula, received two awards.
His piece, "Morning Mist," depicting an empty canoe floating through the mist on a still body of water in the Hiawatha National Forest, won Best in Show. Another of Rose's entries, "Manifestations of My Dreams," earned an Award of Merit.
The exhibit's Award of Excellence went to Betsy Wesselhoft's "Timeless Comfort."
Linda Slining's "Mom" also earned an Award of Merit.
Rose told those at the reception the canoe - which is present in all of his submissions - is a theme or constant in much of his work.
"I find often, when I put the canoe into the picture, ... there is an emotional element with the canoe that people connect to," Rose said. The canoe is an old form of transportation that has endured into the modern day, Rose said.
He said he took "Morning Mist" with his iPhone 10 and a wide-angle lens attachment. He encouraged everyone to use their smartphones for more photography, saying it often allowed for more experimentation.
"The iPhone, to me, is like a sketchbook; it allows you to move real fast. (With) a larger camera, you have to have a tripod, you've got to set it up - you just don't have the freedom of movement," Rose said. "So I recommend to anyone to start using your phone as a sketchbook, because you're going to start to see things you don't normally see."
Even with this year's exhibit just opening, Sandin and the other organizers are already thinking about next year's exhibit, the theme of which will be "friendship."
This year's photo exhibit will remain in the concourse of the Historic Ironwood Theatre through May 31 and is open to the public during the DAP's normal business hours.
