Howard Astrachan photo exhibit

ONEIDA >> The Griffing Gallery of the Kallet Civic Center will host an exhibit of Oneida resident Howard Astrachan’s nature photography beginning Jan. 10. The public is invited to view his work weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

According to Astrachan, he has always had an interest in photography, beginning when he was just a boy. His earliest recollection is having a Kodak Brownie box camera taken away from him by his father. Apparently he didn’t clearly understand the meaning of, “Do not open the camera with film in it!”

His facility with cameras and photo developing continued through high school where he was the yearbook sports photographer during his senior year, and into college where he was able to fit in a black and white photography course along with his math and education courses. Later when he had a growing family, As- trachan filled many family photo albums with his various 35 mm film cameras. His avid interest in nature photography began in 1992 during a seven week family road trip across the country to the Oregon coast. Astrakhan recalled that seeing and photographing the natural beauty of the national parks was a life-changing experience. He added that he was so enamored of the vistas before him that he had to be reminded more than once to take photos of his three children in addition to the waterfalls and rock formations.

Retirement from his math classroom after 33 years at Canastota High School allowed Astrachan to devote more time to his passion for photography. The advent and continued improvement of digital cameras and ink jet printers helped him to become more technically proficient. His subjects include water in motion, landscapes, wildlife, and flowers.

The photographs on exhibit at the Kallet are samples of his work from Alaska, Maine, Oregon, Florida and New York, including images captured right outside his back door in Oneida. Astrachan said, “I like to think of my nature photography as a travel agent. If you see my photos and say, ‘I’d like to go there’ or ‘I remember being there,’ then I have been successful.”

Information about purchasing any of the photos may be found at the exhibit or by contacting Astrachan at (315) 264-1543 or hastrach@gmail.com.

The exhibit will run through the end of February .

Artists interested in displaying work at the Kallet may contact the office at 315-363-8525.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOWARD ASTRACHAN “Chittenango Falls.”