George Dutton Photography Show at the Mercy Gallery
George Dutton, well known Valley City and North Dakota photographer, is kicking off his 50th year in photography with a gallery show of some of his work at the Mercy Gallery, located at CHI Mercy Health ( Mercy Hospital), 570 Chautauqua Boulevard, Valley City, ND.
As a student at the prestigious Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California, Dutton earned a bachelor of professional arts degree, specializing in commercial and architectural photography. In the decades that followed, Dutton built a career behind the camera and expanded his approaches and subject matter.
Dutton has worked in Minneapolis- St. Paul, Baltimore, Maryland, and Houston, Texas, moving to Valley City in 1984. He and his wife Bonnie, own and operate Dutton’s Valley Gallery in Valley City.
His images of Valley City and the region comprise the most iconic representations of the bridges and landscapes of the community. Spanning the seasons and ranging from directly representational to atmospheric, these photographs express the centrality of the Sheyenne River the railroads, farming and the people in the valley. For two generations of Valley Citians, Dutton’s Valley Gallery and the photography of George Dutton have captured the spirit of the community and documented the key events of our lives.
An early adopter of digital photography, Dutton’s work nevertheless remains rooted
in the foundations he learned at the Brooks Institute. This emphasis on technical skill and sound execution is born out in the composition of images in the camera, not in software or the light table. From his start, working on 4 x 5 inch sheet negatives to today/s use of the most up-to- date digital hardware and software, images start from an approach of intentional preparation and an artistic eye.
That perspective is best appreciated in his landscapes, but can also be seen in the family, senior pictures, and wedding photos that thousands of local residents hang in their homes and through which the technical skill is enlivened by the spontaneity and the uniqueness of the people portrayed.
Dutton’s images have for more than thirty years been the measure of which the people of Valley City and the surrounding communities capture their lives and loves.
The Mercy Gallery is located on the first floor of CHI Mercy Health ( Mercy Hospital) and is open from 7 am to 10 pm using the East door, seven days of the week. The show will be up through December.