Joy At The Art Show — TimothyBentley.Photography

One of the most inspiring experiences for an artist is to see how much people appreciate their work. Recently, I showed my photographs at the Mimico Cruising Club’s first art exhibition. It was great to see hundreds of people show up to enjoy the wide range of creativity represented there.

As the only photographer presenting, I was able to exhibit images both familiar and brand new, and I had the pleasure of talking with scores of interested people. Their appreciation of my work was frankly a great joy.

I’ve always loved this photograph of Henry Moore’s Large Two Forms, taken in Grange Park behind the Art Gallery of Ontario. Its sensuous curves, its bronze, silver, and green highlights and reflections, are a delight to the eye.

But what makes the picture unique is the three generations framed by it, seated on a park bench under a flowering cherry tree, a perfect complement to the sculpture’s cool sinuous shape.

A number of people discussed the image among themselves (as I eagerly eavesdropped). Sometimes they saw it as an abstract that I’d created, featuring a a subtle female figure, or an animal shape.

One asked me how I’d photoshopped the family into the centre of it. I didn’t, of course.

In this case, the creative effort was to nudge the camera into a position so they would appear in exactly the right spot. As I told this person, I rarely make any material change to my photographs.

Early in the show, a 4-year-old boy walked up to this image of the blue house, stood remarkably still, and stared at it for several minutes. A little later, he returned, to stare some more. I began to think that something about the photograph must have made an archetypal connection with that child’s mind.

So I listened to adults later, as they scrutinized it, and came to understood that even older people could see a fairytale quality in it.

In the foreground, an antique mechanized scythe that once cut wheat caught their attention too. One man told me it stirred old memories of a similar tool he used to see while working as a boy on a farm in Ireland.

Of course, from a visual perspective, the appeal of the photograph is enhanced by the blue of this country jewel that contrasts so vibrantly with the vast green lawn in front, and the gold, orange, and yellow of the autumn trees behind.

On holiday a few years ago at Captiva Island on the Gulf of Mexico, I watched shorebirds searching for their dinner, oblivious to the glory of the setting sun unfolding on the horizon. To avoid being bowled over by the water, they performed an unending maritime ballet, dancing in and out with the waves.

One of the people who expressed appreciation for this image asked if I’d painted it. The answer, of course, is that I have absolutely zero skill at painting.

In order to capture a compelling picture, I had to crouch on my knees in the wet sand, frame the sandpiper against the waves, and capture a shadow that was not black but filled with refracted light from the sun and the sky.

The art show also gave me the opportunity to display this image of a proud cygnet beside an impassive parent swan. I took its photograph during the summer, in the Thousand Islands.

Finally, here’s an image I shot near Ivy Lea, Ontario. From the ground I had no idea that there was a little bridge crossing an inlet covered in the leaves of water-lilies.

But as I sent the drone a hundred feet above ground level, I was really pleased to capture a lovely scene of peace, tranquility, and connection.

If you’ve been watching my work for a while, you’ll see that I’ve made a couple of significant changes online.

To emphasize my photographic work, I’ve created a new domain: TimothyBentley.Photography. I hope you’ll bookmark and visit it from time to time.

I’ve also re-focussed my blog to address a wider audience. It’s no longer limited to drone photography, but covers the wider range of my art photography.

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