Comox Valley Photographic Society’s (CVPS) Showcase exhibit of photographic prints opens at the Pearl Ellis Gallery on March 10 and runs until April 2.
With the continued restrictions around COVID, CVPS members have been meeting virtually all year with a few small group organized photo shoots. Many members have spent the time cleaning out their digital libraries, finding images they hadn’t edited and shot solo assignments, sharing the images on line.
Small groups have organized to work on specific aspects of the photographic process, and many of the prints on display reflect that work.
Selecting an image to print requires more attention to detail than making a file that’s shared digitally. Printing is a slow process and forces the maker to look both at the details in the image and think critically about the results. Printing is also an expensive process and more attention is paid to what makes the cut. This year’s results include nature themed to cityscapes, abstracts and street shots printed in both colour and black and white. Mixed throughout the exhibit are four oversized prints on metal and canvas. “A print is sometimes confrontational,” said exhibit organizer Norm Prince, “but in a good way… it grabs your attention and forces you to look closer.”
Another change this year is the return of CVPS’ Imagefest as part of the Showcase exhibit. Showing on March 26 at 7 p.m. at the Sid Williams Theatre, a series of three-minute photographic stories have been created by local photographers. Many of those photographers also have prints on display at the Pearl Ellis Gallery. Imagefest has been cancelled for the past two years, and the makers of these series of images are looking forward to sharing them with the public, both on the screen and as a print.
The Pearl Ellis Art Gallery is located at 1729 Comox Ave. in Comox. The Gallery is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, noon-4 p.m. with COVID protocols in place. Admission is free.
For more information about the gallery, and to see a virtual display of the exhibition, visit www.pearlellisgallery.com
For more information about the Comox Valley Photographic Society, visit www.cvps.ca or contact Norm Prince at: n_prince@telus.net