I was very pleased to have been to this exhibit, Andy Chen is a wonderful photographer who happens to have an amazing eye, and captures great pictures with a wide range of emotions, from somber and pensive to quirky and witty.

His photograph titled “The Stone Table,” an archival print that has a rock set atop another creating a natural table amid the forest is a good example of how to look at things from a different angle, as they may bring forth a new perspective.

A similar example could be his “Beginning and End” photograph.  A rock peering from a snow covered forest, appears when looked at closely like the head of a dinosaur sneaking a look underneath the snow.  It is a beautiful and amusing photograph open to interpretation when looked with an open mind.

“Misted Crossing” is a sublime photo that depicts a misty grove with tall trees, that form an opening creating a great creative balance, I also notice how the main subject covers bricks below the trees, but are subtly visible.

One of my personal favorite Andy Chen photographs has to be “The Glen.”   With a superbly technical style, he has captured a forest covered in purple and lilac flowers and buds waiting to open.  The detail is clear, and the texture is recognizable even in small objects like the flowers and parts of the trees.

An appropriately named photograph, “Moss” shows a landscape covered with a seemingly swirling mass of moss.  The circular center of the moss is at eye level commanding the attention of the viewer, and from there it grows outward circling with green softness.

A photograph that I was not so sure if it was taken from the ground up or from the bottom was “Gestures and Dreams.”  After looking carefully, and observing some grass, ferns and some soil in small openings, did I realize that this was shot from eye level, but that the artist has chosen a specific area with a dream-like quality.

I was also fortunate to see another of his fellow photographer there, Paul D’Andrea, and I got advice from both of them.  I was told that doing “assignment photography” can be difficult because of a sense of detachment, but to think of it as a problem to solve creatively.   I also learned from them to find time to take photographs and to try and carry my camera with me every where I go, because I never know when an opportunity for a great shot will appear.

~Sarah

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