Wednesday, May 6, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Library exhibit focuses on photography
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
The May art exhibit spon-
sored by Friends of the Sisters
Library (FOSL) features
the work of the Sisters Area
Photography Club members.
With a preponderance of
stunning landscape photog-
raphy, members have used a
variety of finishing techniques
from printing on metal and
canvas, to the use of computer
applications that create special
effects and finishes.
The club has been around
for about 10 years, and mem-
bership is open to anyone
with an interest in photog-
raphy regardless of skill-
level or type of equipment.
Photography on display
features the work of highly
accomplished professionals
as well as hobby amateurs
who use their point-and-shoot
cameras, and even their phone
cameras.
California transplant Greg
Waddell, who serves as the
club’s vice president, con-
siders his photography to be
both his vocation and avo-
cation. After many years in
retail management and a stint
in real estate, Waddell moved
to Sisters to be closer to his
brother, who is the executive
director of Wolftree, and
to care for his 93-year-old
mother. In his five years in
Sisters, he has developed a
love for the area and joined the
cadre of photographers who
call Central Oregon home.
Waddell admits he actually
enjoys the post-processing
aspect of photography more
than the actual shooting of
photos. In college he signed up
for photography classes sim-
ply to gain access to the dark
room, skipping the classes.
A workshop with famed
photographer and environ-
mentalist Ansel Adams reso-
nated with Waddell. Adams
likened photography to music,
with capturing the images
being like writing the score
and the processing or devel-
oping of the images being the
performance.
Well-known street pho-
tographer Jay Maisel advises
aspiring photographers to “go
out empty,” with no intention
set about what they will shoot.
“Photography isn’t about
photography — it’s about
everything else,” Maisel said.
On a trip to Central
America with Swiss photog-
rapher Christian Heeb, who is
part of Bend’s Cascade Center
of Photography, Waddell had
the opportunity to practice
“going out empty.” The result
is a coffee table book of
arresting colorful images of
the flora, fauna, people and
places in Panama, Costa Rica,
Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Waddell favors what he
calls cultural photography,
capturing ordinary people
going about their daily lives.
The faces and colors of
Central America jump off the
pages of his book, with the
vibrant primary colors of the
produce markets and woven
cotton garments.
every time I go out
to photograph, there
is something new.
It requires me to slow
down and really look.
— greg Waddell
Photography is able to
sustain Waddell’s interest
because, as he said, “Every
time I go out to photograph,
there is something new. It
requires me to slow down and
really look. On a walk through
Sisters, I may notice a win-
dow or something on a side
photo by sue stafford
greg Waddell sees the world through a photographer’s eye.
street. It’s never the same.”
Photographs by Waddell
are available on his website,
www.gregsphotostudio.com.
He has also had work exhib-
ited at the Blue Burro, in the
FOSL January art exhibit, and
for the Wild River Project at
Clearwater Gallery. This will
be his second year to have
a piece in the My Own Two
Hands art auction. This year’s
photograph is of the Painted
Hills, printed on metal.
The photography club
meets the second Wednesday
of the month at 4 p.m. in the
library community room.
Anyone can join, with
individual memberships for
$25 a year and family mem-
berships $35. Before each
meeting there is a gathering
at 2:30 p.m. at Takoda’s for
a photo chat where questions
are answered and experi-
ences shared. Whether you’ve
always wanted to try your
hand at doing more than taking
snapshots or you are a long-
time shutterbug or a profes-
sional photographer, the club
would welcome you and your
experience — or lack of it.
The exhibit will be up
through the end of May, with
many of the photographs
available for purchase.