Photography has received resistance in the art world for many decades; even now, there are many galleries filled with paintings but no photographs in sight. But that's not to say that its artistic possibilities weren't seen immediately.

Great Britain's Royal Photographic Society began as the Photographic Society in 1853, with Paris joining in only a year later with the Société Française de Photographie. Henry Peach Robinson's book “Pictorial Effect in Photography,” first printed in 1869, saw numerous editions and translations.

Like other mediums, artistic forms of photography changed constantly over the decades, and most of us know the power that Ansel Adams' works had on the nation's understanding of our national parks and open lands. Documentary photography impacted national policy through the Great Depression.

Kodachrome and Kodacolor brought color to more photographs in the 1930s and 1940s. Just as Adams impacted our views of the Western states, street photography's urban views arguably aided the civil rights movement. 

The "Captured" exhibit is held at the Gallery at the Old Post Office, built in 1913, a building with its own historical past. Two local papers noted that four and five thousand people were in attendance at its opening, many amazed at the revolving door. (Later replaced.) James Knox Taylor, the architect who designed the Renaissance Revival style building, likely influenced other regional post offices in his eventual position as the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury.

There are as many approaches to capturing images as there are photographers. Exhibit artist Joe McClure likes “photos with compositions and juxtapositions that can communicate an entire story in a single image,” as in his image above. McClure goes on to note, “I often shoot things with a historical bent, trying to pull them out of obscurity as a kind of reminder that the past remains with us.”

“I prefer extemporaneous shots, although I often bring my pro camera with me when I travel,” notes Noel Wingard. “What grabs my attention are often illusory images: a cloud mimicking a bird, for example, a perspective that makes a certain feature appear outsized, or any moment that exhibits some kind of expanded dimensionality.”

“What engages me in a photo is atmosphere. I want it to absorb me and make me travel, whether in thought or place.”

"Captured" brings us to today's photography styles with twenty-three artworks from eleven regional artists, including:

Shane Bahn, Amanda Brimfield, Hannah Chiacchierini, Jason Konopinski, Carla Long, Joe McClure, Gretchen Nevin, Andrew Smith, Cisco Soto, Chris Williams, and Noel Wingard. 

"Captured"
August 6th - September 21st

Opening: August 6th, 1-3 PM

Exhibit Hours M-TH, 9-5
Watch the Gallery Facebook Page for Additional Evening/Weekend Times.

Gallery at the Old Post Office
141 Broadway, Hanover, PA
Free parking is available in the lot to the rear of the building.
 

Historical Resource: Britannica

For additional information, contact Andrew Smith via email. Thanks to Scott Roland and Blue Ridge Holdings for providing the Old Post Office for the exhibit.

All works copyright the artists and/or Andrew T. Smith