Picturing the world: Marco Island Art Center opens show with photos from all over

MARCO ISLAND — Photography as an art form gets some exposure this month at the Art Center. Two exhibits highlight both the work of local photographers, as well as some from the other side of the globe, and dating back to the 1930s.

The Marco Island Center for the Arts held their regular “Second Tuesday Art Social” and debuted the new exhibits. In the main gallery, a juried show by members of the Naples Camera Club covered the walls, and many of the photographers mingled with the attendees. This was not the case with the second exhibit, in La Petite Galerie, which focused on Tibet.

The Tibetan photos comprised two groups. One, known as the Tibetan Photo Project, is the result of distributing disposable cameras to the Buddhist monks and refugees, many living in India, and having them document their own lives. A second group of black and white photographs was shot by mountaineers on a 1932 mountain climbing expedition, showing the hardship and beauty of the Himalayas, particularly 80 years ago.

The stark images of the mountains contrasted with the smiling monks and everyday snapshots of the monks, and together presented a fascinating picture of a faraway land. Adding to the otherworldly effect, La Petite Galerie was carpeted for the event with a Tibetan rug smuggled out of the country shortly before the border was closed in 1959, and the Dalai Lama, who is pictured, was forced into exile by the Red Chinese army.

While the Naples Camera Club members who contributed photographs to their exhibit shot many of the images locally, in many cases, their photos also had a globe-trotting feel. Pictures of the Great Wall of China, grizzly bears collecting salmon for an ursine version of sushi, and giraffes in East Africa were hung side by side with Florida birds and beach scenes.

Cynthia Walpole showed stunning closeups of dragonflies, and Charles Fritsch exhibited an action shot of two hummingbirds in flight, and apparent conflict, he titled “En-Garde,” which highlighted the amazing capabilites of today’s camera equipment as well as the photographer’s eye.

The blue ribbon went to photographer Nic Provenzo, for an image of youths flying kites he made in Guatemala, an almost journalistic photo that owed little to gee-whiz gadgetry. Mike Landwehr took second place, and third went to Marco’s own Ed Cohen for a landscape of a New England mill.

While a member of the Naples Camera Club, Cohen is a Marco resident, and has practiced medicine on the island for 21 years. He was responsible for putting the club and the Art Center together for the exhibit.

Art Center executive director thanked the crowd for coming to view the “spectacular photographs,” and got in a plug for the Art Center’s next upcoming event. The Italian Chef Dinner, she said, will bring yet another artform, the art of cooking, under the auspices of the center.

The Art Center’s big (up to) $5,000 raffle continues, said Holley, with the grand prize being drawn on April 10. Two interim winners were selected at Tuesday’s event. Lisa Hammond won four tickets to the Marco Players, and Aggie Malloy took home a gift certificate to the Crazy Flamingo. Both are still eligible to win the big money.

Tickets cost $25 apiece, or $100 for a booklet of five tickets, and may be purchased at the Art Center Monday through Friday from 9 a,m, to 4 p.m., their regular hours, or from an Art Center board member any time.

The Art Center is located at 1010 Winterberry Drive. For more information on the Marco Island Center for the Arts, call 239-394-4221, or go online to www.marcoislandart.org. To learn more about the Naples Camera Club, go to www.naplescameraclub.com.