01/27/04

LMC Exhibit to Feature Photography of Mark Kelly

A collection of photographs by Mark Kelly will be the focus of the winter art exhibit at Lake Michigan College. Kelly, shown here with one of his works, deals extensively with nautical themes and utilizes a number of computerized methods to achieve a unique visual interpretation of his subjects. The public is invited to an opening night reception on Wednesday, February 11, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the gallery in LMC's William Hessel Library. Kelly's works will then be on display during regular library hours until March 5.

 

 

 

This photograph by Mark Kelly of St. Joseph's North Pier is an example of the watercolor-like quality he achieves through the use of software enhancement. His works will be on display from February 11 through March 5 in the gallery in the LMC William Hessel Library.

 

 

BENTON TOWNSHIP, MI - As a young man raised in central Illinois, Mark Kelly discovered his passion for a nautical lifestyle on an Outward Bound experience in Maine when he was sixteen. That passion has led him to express his love of coastal environments through photography.

A collection of his work that features shorelines and nautical themes will be on exhibit during February in the Lake Michigan College Art Gallery in the William Hessel Library on the Napier Avenue campus.

The public is invited to an opening night reception on Wednesday, February 11, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the gallery. Kelly's works will then be on display during regular library hours until March 5. The reception and month-long exhibit are free of charge.

Kelly's works originate from the time he spent living in Scotland and from his extensive travels in Nova Scotia and Maine. Now a resident of St. Joseph, Kelly focuses on the Lake Michigan shoreline. According to Kelly, through digital manipulation, he is able to portray his own artistic vision of the scenery he has experienced.

"By creating a gauzy quality with various digital tools, I try to get back to the romanticism my subjects inspire," states Kelly. "These pieces are not meant to be photojournalistic records of the places I have been but rather my visual interpretation of them."

His photos take on a watercolor-like quality and incorporate rough edges to blur the line between the paper and the image. Kelly is able to achieve these effects through technologies that give him total control over all phases of image creation. This includes scanning, software manipulation of the image, and the use of the giclee printing process.

The giclee process produces pieces that are of fine art quality. It uses a new generation of ink jet printing that approaches an archival quality that older forms of ink jet imaging have not been able to achieve. "Advances in the ink sets and dyes that are more stable produce a quality print that is fade-resistant to a degree that is comparable to color prints from negatives," adds Kelly.

Kelly's exhibit will also feature several kayaking photos that "portray force and the effort of movement in a more abstract vein." Other pieces employ the use of the imagery of film to frame the subject matter of the photo.

"I like the way Mark employs the actual film, itself, in focusing the observer's eye in and on a given space; it is virtually impossible to move your attention away from where Mark directs it through this method," states LMC art instructor and exhibit organizer Ken Schaber. "In other more traditional applications of photography, Mark's treatment of 'horozontal emphasis' makes his work as much a meditation, as it does a technical composition focused on celebrating object in space."

Kelly, a photographer for 25 years, has generated a wide range of commercial and agency photography with Holiday Rambler Corporation, Larry Gard Photography, Inc., and through his own freelance business. He has also shared his expertise in the classroom as an instructor and Division Chair of the Visual Technology Division at Ivy Tech State College in South Bend. Currently, Kelly is the Instructional Technologist and Title III Activity Director in LMC's Teaching and Learning Center.

In addition to still photography, Kelly also works in QuickTime VR immersive imaging media. For more information on his works, visit www.kellyphoto.com.

Gallery hours for the exhibit are Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, contact Ken Schaber at (269) 927-8100, ext. 5180.