Port Colborne, Ontario Library Features Special Exhibit of Images By Niagara Photo Artist

By Doug Draper

The Port Colborne Public Library is featuring a special exhibit of photographs by Welland photo artist Terry Nicholls beginning this Thursday, July 15 and running through October 15.

A piece titled 'Riverside', one of many works by Terry Nicholls on exhibit at the Port Colborne Public Library.

The exhibit opens at the library this July 15th at 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.; with the artist of 30 years on hand to greet all from the public who wish to meet him and experience his work.

“When I was asked by a member of the library’s board if I would like to exhibit my work this summer, I was both delighted and somewhat stunned,” said Nicholls. “I had a few pieces entered in the Roseland (Port Colborne’s premier arts venue) Juried Show a couple of years ago. But I never had a solo gig before. … Nor have I had to work so long and hard matting and framing, with twenty-seven pieces in a show. …

” I photograph whatever happens to catch my attention as I’m walking around – whatever forces its way into the “frame” I carry with me in my mind’s eye,” continued Nicholls. “I’m very selective about how I shoot. Usually I’ll take only one or two exposures, perhaps using different lenses or viewpoints. …

“I try not to ask myself whether it will ultimately make a strong enough image to print. I just try to figure out exactly what it is about the subject matter that interests me – the colour, the light, the context, the shape, line, or texture – and then I see how I can work with the file later to bring those factors to the fore in a composition which I hope will arrest the viewer’s eye as the initial sight caught mine.”

“My work is entirely digital in nature—the original raw image files are captured by a digital SLR camera, and the files are then cropped, edited, and otherwise manipulated to my taste on the computer until ready to print out,” said Nicholls.
 
This method of working gives me a great deal of creative scope; often a particular image requires a lot of post-camera processing to get it to the point where it evokes the feeling I had about the subject at the time of pressing the shutter release. I feel that while the initial exposure should be technically as good as possible, it is still only the raw material for the making of a memorable image. Even masters such as Ansel Adams played endlessly with their images in the chemical processing and enlarging stages before they found what they were looking for. In my case I waste a lot less paper and chemicals and the original file always remains as shot, ready for further experimentation anytime I feel like playing.”

Terry Nicholl’s exhibit of photo art will continue at the Port Colborne Public Library, located on 310 King Street in that Niagara, Ontario city, through mid-October and his pieces will be available for purchase, as will unmated prints which will be produced as required.

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