Photographic exhibits offer variety of work

It's a weekend for viewing photographs as three venues open exhibits by local and international photographers.

The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts opens two exhibitions Thursday.

In Galleries A and B, the exhibit "Flights of the Soul" showcases the works of internationally known photographer Andrea Modica, a documentary photographer who uses imagination with threads of reality. The artist will give a gallery talk at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, just before the opening reception at 6:30 p.m.

In Gallery C, well-known Tampa artist Suzanne Camp Crosby presents "Kids of the City," which grew out of her year's work as Tampa's 2004 photographer laureate.

She will discuss her work at 11 a.m. Saturday at the museum, 200 N. Tampa St.; the entrance is on Jackson Street. Call the museum at (813) 221-2222 for information.

Local artist focuses on Florida photos

Meet Tampa artist Lorraine Genovar and see her hand-painted black-and-white photographs of Florida's wetlands and vanishing landscapes in a free opening reception at Baisden Gallery from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday.

It's an unusual exhibit - a dying art depicts a dying landscape. "It's old art school," Genovar said. "I think what is being overlooked by the general public about photography is that seeing images on this scale that are true black and white is very rare now. "

A photographer for more than 35 years, Genovar prints her black and white photos in the darkroom and then paints them. She began combining art forms early on, taking cues and inspiration from her mother, a painter.

"I love the reality and the instant gratification of photography, but the layering and richness of depth you get with a painting is wonderful," the artist said.

The result is beautiful, a fact apparent in the 15 to 20 images in the Baisden show. Though all of them are taken within the past year, they are proof of change, Genovar said.

"The story they're telling is that these are dwindling opportunities," she said. "It's getting harder and harder to find what I consider true Florida. It's a shame."

The large pieces in the show present special problems.

"The paper I am doing these on I hoarded years ago," Genovar said. "I can't find that kind of paper in that size anymore anywhere in the world. So when it's gone, it's gone, and I will be forced to go smaller or go into digital."

Taken as a whole, Genovar's 25 years of images of Florida are a documentary of change, showing wetlands that are now shopping centers and grassland that is now roads.

"Having been born and raised in Florida and being an outdoor person here, I have that awareness that the landscape is completely changing and evaporating," she said. "And combining that with the fact that I am an artist, it's a natural direction for me to go with my work."

So is the show a swan song for the wetlands as well as for black-and-white photography?

"I hope it's not, but it seems that's the way we're going," Genovar said.

The public can see two of Genovar's three-dimensional public art projects, "The Reliquary" in Kate Jackson Park and "The Fish on Bayshore," hanging in front of the docked Gasparilla pirate ship.

The exhibit at Baisden is up through Jan. 23. The gallery is at 442 W. Grand Central Ave., near downtown Tampa. Call the gallery at (813) 250-1511 for information.

Blake features media photographer

From 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Gallery 501 at Blake High School hosts a free reception for an exhibit by Jay Nolan, a multimedia photojournalist at The Tampa Tribune for 20 years.

Called "Photojournalism Puzzles," the exhibit reveals the art in journalism through 28 images from high-profile events that Nolan has shot for the Tribune in recent years. The selected photos can be grouped into categories: George W. Bush, hurricanes, tsunamis, concerts and the homeless.

There also will be a video loop running of the work Nolan has done for WFLA this year.

The puzzle part of the title is in the approach.

"I look at the assignment like a puzzle," Nolan said. "How do I get the info I need to convey to the reader inside this framework? The criteria I use are good light, good moment and good composition. Once I get those three elements, then I look inside those elements to see if the pieces work well together."

It's a puzzle he shares with his students at Blake when he volunteers as a lecturer there several times a year.

"More often than not, I'm only getting two of those. That's how hard it is to put good puzzles together," he said.

Then there is the journalism part.

"The best way to convey a story is in a single frame," he said. "The puzzle is, how do you take this written word and turn it into something that's going to make sense visually, and take it in 1/60{+t}{+h} of a second or faster?

"Even though all these pictures have been looked at before by the general public - because they've all been in print - this is the first show I've ever done," Nolan said.

It is not meant to be a retrospective.

"This came about awful fast. There was not much time to piece the show together. I had to whittle down 20 years worth of photographs into five segments. If I was going to show 20 years worth of my career, it would take quite a few months to put it together. I've gone from black and white to video, so there's a lot in those 20 years."

After the reception, the work can be seen by appointment by calling the school at (813) 272-3422. Blake High is at 1701 N. Boulevard.