Time to think at Middle Street Gallery
Contemplative Moments, quiet and thoughtful images by photographers Gary Anthes and Jo Levine, will be offered at Middle Street Gallery in Washington Virginia from Sept. 10 through October 17. Works by other gallery members will also be on display.
Levine is showing photographs of leaves dramatically illuminated against a deep black background. “My series was inspired by leaves that I found on a sidewalk last fall,” she says. “Struck by their photogenic qualities, I brought them home and took their portraits. After that, every walk found me scanning the ground for fallen leaves and other plant material that most people would rake from their lawns without a second thought.” Indeed, her images prompt second thoughts about the beauty of simplicity and the simplicity of beauty in nature.
The contemplative air of these photos connects them to those of fellow photographer Gary Anthes, who is showing images from the natural and built worlds presented in tranquil and sometimes melancholy ways. “These pictures spring from the Japanese artistic philosophy of wabi-sabi, which reveres the beauty of aging,” Anthes says. “It holds in high esteem people, natural elements, and manufactured things that are old, imperfect, and incomplete, and it stands in opposition to the classic Western notions of perfection, beauty, and youth.”
Levine and Anthes have much in common. Both are award-winning photographers living in the Washington, D.C. area and with former or current roots in Rappahannock County. In addition to the Middle Street Gallery, both are members of the Studio Gallery in D.C., and Levine is represented by Dwell Fine Art in Hume. The works of both photographers have been favorably reviewed in The Washington Post and other regional and national publications, and they are represented in private and corporate collections across the U.S.
The gallery, middlestreetgallery.org and (540) 6751313, is located next to The Inn at Little Washington and will be open Fri.-Sun. from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. The gallery will adhere to the standard best practices dictated by the pandemic. Please bring a face mask.