Photographer of the Month: Denise Gallagher
Here's what Denise has to say "I started out as an art teacher, and painter. I spent a year in the Tyler Rome Program at age 22 and it forever changed my temperament and artistic sensibilities. For one thing, I painted the cityscapes and eventually the landscapes of Italy for many years. The other is that travel to foreign lands is/was just normal to me.
I dabbled in B/W photography in the eighties, even developed my own prints but photography was always secondary to painting for me, just "reference shots". That all changed in 2010 for two reasons, I went to New Zealand and photographed madly all day long, came back, made short slide show films and surprisingly, received a lot of praise for my pictures. And, soon after this, I “fell” unexpectedly into photographing at night in my kitchen what I call my magical landscapes. They are spontaneous explorations of light, color, form. You can see these at www.denisearthealer.com
Rachel and Owen asked me to share some vacation photos. Well? I spent the last 9 months traveling and made it all the way around the world. One focus of my trip was to work with the Syrian refugees in the Ritsona camp, one hour north of Athens, Greece. I chose a few of those pictures to give you a flavor. I was not an “official photographer" so carrying my DSLR was not allowed. These were done quickly with my cell phone. All other photos were done with my Nikon D5200. I included shots from my favorite place to photograph in Italy, Belvedere, a couple from the charming town of Frome in southern England and 2 of my magical photos. Enjoy!"
As these pictures convey, Denise is an extraordinary person in many ways. Her travels, her connections to people in myriad places and all circumstances, her relationship with the earth.... everything she approaches somehow becomes art. And as you'll see, in her abstract work, she joins her sense of play and mystery to create some equally arresting images.
Click on thumbnails to see full images.
