Opening Reception of Boulder Digital Arts “Creative Digital Photography” Show

Janine Fugere with her photograph "Spring Storms Colorado Style" at the Opening Reception of Boulder Digital Arts "Creative Digital Photography" Show

Thanks to all who were able to attend the opening reception of my first art show at Boulder Digital Arts on Friday: Andy, Nelson, David, Sonja, David P, Sandy, Bob, Louisa, Jon, and my son, Justin. Thanks also to everyone else who sent well wishes and congrats on my acceptance into the show. This photograph shows me with Spring Storms Colorado Style at the opening reception.

There were some extremely talented photographers in the “Creative Digital Photography” show, so I was honored to be included in the company of these great artists. While I did not place in the show, I was delighted when I discovered that my photograph was displayed near the giant number “01” which is actually a room number, but it made me feel like #1 regardless!

As the show’s name implies, the photographs were all creatively digitally manipulated. Interestingly, so often photographers bear the brunt of criticism for digitally altering their images too much. For this reason, I chose to submit a piece which, although I had used significant digital processing effects (details tomorrow), still has a true-to-life appearance. Ironically, all the images which placed in the show were pieces with much more significant digital special effects, giving them appearances ranging from surreal to utterly unreal. It was nice to see elaborate and creative digital photography enhancement techniques are being given the credit they deserve as fine art.

It was very rewarding to view the other artists’ work and to talk with them about their digital processing techniques. This show made me excited to explore my own interest in even more creative digital enhancements. I have a natural love of surreal-looking special effects, yet have felt a need to bridle this interest in order to be taken seriously as a photographer and an artist. What I learned from this show is that there is a market for both more natural effects as well as elaborate digital creations which come from the depths of my wildest dreams!

For those interested in how my entry was created, I will share details on my processing in a separate post tomorrow. For now, I will simply share the photograph itself, along with the question I was asked by many people at the reception on Friday, the answer to which involves a childhood memory.

Spring Storms Colorado Style

Many people at the show wanted to know what is my favorite thing about this photograph. I love every part of this photo including the clouds, the leading lines created by the fence and the open space trail, the highlights on the dried grass, and certainly not the least, my beautiful classic view of the Front Range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and Boulder’s Flatirons, as seen from my town of Louisville.

But the true answer to the question about my favorite part of this photograph involves telling a childhood story. By far, my very favorite part of all is the area with streaks of rain, off in the distance, between the clouds and the mountains. Here is the reason why: every time I look at Spring Storms Colorado Style, I am reminded of a month-long family vacation driving across the country the summer I turned eleven. I can vividly remember my dad pointing out to me, as we were driving though New Mexico, the phenomenon of seeing distant rain on the horizon and him teaching me how to tell exactly where the rain began and ended. I marveled at the sight back then and now, almost 40 years later, that sight still amazes me every time I see it. That distant rain and that memory were the most important things I’d hoped to capture and succeeded in capturing in this photograph. Now, every time I look at Spring Storms Colorado Style, I can still hear my dad saying, “Look, off in the distance, do you see those streaks that connect the clouds to the earth? That’s rain!”

I dedicate Spring Storms Colorado Style to my father, George Fugere.      I love you Dad. Thank you so much for instilling such a deep love of nature’s beauty in me from such a young age.

[P.S. Be sure to read my dad’s heartwarming reply to this post in the comments below.]

As Seen by Janine: Eyes of the World Images