Peter Wnek: Connecticut Landscape Photography


Soul of the Landscape

An exhibit of photographs celebrating the beauty and spirit of our woodland and waterway landscapes.

On Exhibit  FEBRUARY 2-28, 2016

Essex Public Library  33 West Avenue  Essex CT
(The exhibit is open to the public during all normal library hours. Visit YourEssexLibrary.org for hours and directions)



 

 

 

 

 

The show begins with “Whispers of the Past”; a favorite tree and location on the Connecticut River. When photographing in this area, I am inspired by the purity and innocence of the American landscape as portrayed by the 19th century Hudson River painters.  I strive for warm, glowing light with luminous or stormy skies to invoke a charm or a mood. The quiet, serene river mingles with a broken tree. It’s cracked branches and other natural elements invoke a spirit of bygone days, as well as the continuous cycle of change, death and regrowth that we cannot avoid or change.

With a focus mostly on local scenes, this exhibit speaks to the beauty that surrounds us, the coastal vistas and woodland spaces that are unique to our state. In a familiar kaleidoscope of colors, see the rising and setting sun, the harmony of sky and land, the collusion of rock and sea.

Featured in this exhibit is Silver Glade, an image of trees on a ridge near Meriden. It recently won the Salmagundi Club of NYC’s 2015 “Henry O’Connor Award” for excellence, portraying the gentler, quieter landscape of New England.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The landscape doesn’t necessarily reveal itself with cooperative ease. I often visit an area many times sensing it’s real beauty is hidden and is patiently awaiting the right moment to be revealed. My photographs are always the product of chasing the mood and atmosphere of the day.  These moments often reveal what I never saw before and what I was always looking to find.

 

It is that voice of New England which I strive  to capture in my photographs, “those intimate moments of our own landscapes” waiting to be revealed.