The Kershner Gallery invites the public to a reception for "In the Spirit of Animals", photographs by Lori Bolle, Margaret Harris and Barbara Paul on January 10 at 4:30 - 6:30 pm. The exhibitors will talk at 5:30 pm. Snow date for the reception is January 24. The exhibit will run until February 28. Fairfield Library, 1080 Old Post Rd., Fairfield. See www.fairfieldpubliclibrary.org
The aim of this exhibit is to convey the mesmerizing spirit of animals through photographic images of mammals and birds and indigenous people paying tribute to their spiritual power.
Lori Bolle is a resident of Norwalk and is the past President of the Norwalk Camera Club. In 2006 and 2008, she received the Club’s highest honor, the Ethel and Milt Burchac Photographer of the Year Award, and she has top awards from the Westport Y’s Men’s Camera Club Annual EXPO Competitions. She has also exhibited at the Audubon Club of Fairfield’s Annual Exhibition and at the Audubon Club of Greenwich.
Before becoming a photographer, Lori taught riding at Nimrod Farm in Weston. In her travels to Africa, she visited multiple wildlife reserves, capturing the exquisite beauty of birds and animals seen on her wildlife adventures. She says she is inspired when she sees a Great Egret or White Heron flying against a deep blue sky. “I try to capture the moment, wondering where their flight might take them, as they fly with such ease.”
Margaret Harris, also a Norwalk resident and originally a New Yorker, serves as the official photographer for the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of the Connecticut Association of Photographers, Photographic Society of America, and the Norwalk Camera Club, where she has served as a Board Member and been the recipient of many Best in Show awards, including Photographer of the Year. She has exhibited throughout Connecticut and her works are in private collections in the United States and abroad.
Margaret says her senses and camera shutter are always open to the grace and elegance of animals, as well as their more disconcerting behavior, such as the silent stalking of their prey. Whether it is on the Acacia-studded grasslands of Kenya and Tanzania, the steamy swamps of the Everglades, or the forests, marshes and dunes of New England, she finds herself beckoned and enthralled – by the spirit of animals. She has also used her camera skills to record fascinating subjects such as the Masai and Samburu people of Africa, lighthouses, butterflies, dragonflies and other tiny creatures.
Barbara Paul has lived in Westport for the past 35 years. She graduated from Wellesley College, majoring in mathematics, and earned an MBA from New York University School of Business Administration. She has been a member of the Fairfield Arts Council, the Westport Arts Center, and the Stamford Arts Council.
Barbara’s photographs of unique, indigenous people living in remote regions of Asia and Africa have been exhibited widely in Connecticut and New York. Her goal is to provide insight, understanding, respect and appreciation for their varied cultures. Her images document ethnic traditions, dress, and the use of animal masks in dance, which reveals human respect for the power and influence that animals have in some cultures and in their communication with the spiritual world.
Barbara says, “We can learn from them; we can value their creativity; and we can make an effort to help them maintain their identity while much of the world’s population becomes homogeneous. A village person…smiling, or showing friendliness…creates a bond between us. We are reminded that… all human beings are essentially the same, no matter where on earth they live.”