Reception Saturday September 7, 2-4 PM

Three outstanding area photographers are featured in this month's exhibition in the Hosmer Gallery. They all work in black and white, exploring the powerful emotive and compositional qualities of this medium which is often neglected in the digital age.

Tristan Chambers' photographs explore the interplay between agriculture, industry, and nature in rural and postindustrial settings, with a keen attention toward the temporal decay and evolution of plants, animals, and man made things. Employing a digital process, the artist uses traditional and contemporary techniques to produce fine art prints from unalloyed materials: carbon pigment on cotton paper.

The rustic and mysterious quality of his work paired with a contemplative point of view conjures forth a view of timeless impermanence and a silent struggle of man and nature.

Rick Miller is an acclaimed photographer and an associate professor of art. He was an accomplished freelance news and editorial photographer for many years prior to becoming a full-time teacher.

Mr. Miller's work has been reviewed by Newsday, The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, among other notable media outlets. He has also written articles for several publications.

Two of the many photographic projects he has exhibited locally and nationally are photographs of Cuba and Facing AIDS: Photographic Portraits from Long Island, which was funded in part by a grant from the Long Island Arts Council. Professor Miller has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including three Faculty Development Grants from St. Joseph's College in 2001, 2005 and 2007, as well as a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2008 for his ongoing project, Facing Time: Portraits and Stories of Franklin County Seniors.

Mr. Miller's book, Cuba: Photographs by Rick Miller, was published in 2009.

Paul Hetzel decided to take up the craft of photography seriously while on a trek to Mt. Everest in 1994. He advanced from 35mm to medium format film in the late 1990s. The time constraints of his busy Medical Oncology practice prompted him to switch to the digital medium in 2005. He favors the creation of images in black and white, as he feels this medium best allows him to reproduce the mood, texture and form he sees in a particular situation, be it landscape, architecture or people. With the advances in digital papers, inks and software over the past decade, he finds he can create images equivalent to those he created with the silver halide process in the darkroom. In 2013, his black and white images have been selected as best in show at the Monson Arts Festival and at the New England Camera Club Annual Convention.

This exhibit includes a series of images taken in a Cistercian Abbey in Southern France. The simplicity of the architecture mirrored the life style of the Monks of St. Benedict. No fancy carvings, frescos or art work. "Standing amid the massive walls and high ceilings and in the absence of other visitors, I felt I could envision the monks silently going about their chores or singing Gregorian Chant en masse. I hope these images faithfully recreate that mood."--Paul Hetzel