Orchis Exhibit Opening

The last couple of weeks have been a blur, and I don’t mean bokeh! But, I will write about the Orchis exhibit opening on September 15, 2022, at The RI Center for Photographic Arts and share a few pictures from the exhibit.

Orchis Exhibit Main Gallery

Thanks to David DeMelim’s meticulous work, the hanging of the photographs on the walls in the main and the inner gallery looked impeccable. The prints glowed as if they were emitting light, partly due to the pearlescent qualities of Kodak Endura paper. Devoid of frames and glass, the naked prints immediately came forward. I wanted for quite some time to show just the photographs without a mat, frame, or glass so that the viewer could have a direct experience of the print. It worked!

Artifacts Added to the Experience

A unique piece of costume from the performance loaned to me for this exhibit was hanging on the wall under the exhibit title. The costume with its gigantic petals reflected the look of the flower photographs.

As I requested, the photographs were in a specific order of appearance, starting to the left of the entrance door and moving counterclockwise. At the end stood two photographs depicting an important scene from the stage. Not far from them, the dried blossom that gave birth to those photographs rested under a clear dome on a columnar stand. Talk about larger than life!

Processing the Originals

When looking at the dried orchid blossoms, one may get the impression that they are merely negative versions of the originals. Without getting into the details of how I processed the flower images, and even those in the Response Collection, I will present one flower with its processed version and a negative version. You will see that the final Orchis photographs retain much of the original tonalities with a surreal touch.

Click on the images to see them larger, uncropped, and read their titles.

Inner Gallery

Flanked by two orchid plants on either side, eight photographs from the live stage performances greeted the visitors on the main curved wall. On either side of the door were four photographs I labeled “The Response Collection.” They show Mindaugas in various poses in response to several photos. I bought the two orchid plants from a nursery in Hawaii. Although they were not identical to what I photographed, their overall presence mimicked the original.

The Talk

Along with our friends, a sizeable group of Gallery Night visitors stopped by. After they toured the exhibit, David started the evening and introduced me to make my talk. The text of the presentation would make the post too long, so I am adding this link to a PDF file. I recommend you take a look, as it outlines how this emergent project took me for a ten-year ride and delighted me in many different ways.

The audience was attentive and appeared moved by the photographs and my narrative. That pleased me very much. Quite a few people stopped to chat with me after the talk and expressed how pleased they were with the exhibit.

Views from the Opening

Below are a bunch of photographs David took when he finished hanging the exhibit. I added to his collection, and some Dennis took of the talk and the visitors. Steve took the last one with Jan and I. Thank you all very much.

The actual photographs are not here individually to prevent too many images. If there is enough interest, I may write a separate post to present the Orchis Collection, the Orchis Stage Collection, and the Response Collection. I thank you for visiting the show and reading this article about the exhibit opening reception. It will be on until October 14, 2022. There is a possibility of a Zoom presentation if all goes well.

Click on the images to see them larger, uncropped, and read their titles.

And, these are mine and Dennis’s.