A Focus on Photography Exhibition is now on display at CHTAC!

The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center introduces a new series of artwork that exemplify true skill in the A Focus on Photography Exhibition. These three exhibitions include photographs submitted by regional artists with a story to tell through their thought provoking pieces. Take time out to enjoy the work of these talented artists.

 A Focus on Photography will be on display at The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center through August 13!

Hardhat Heroes - Shipyard Workers of Hampton Roads

Photographs by Glen McClure

Visually stunning as individual portraits and as a collection even more remarkable, Glen McClure’s Hardhat Heroes introduces the viewer to a key subset of regional citizens in monumental but intimate black-and-white images. Photographed at the work site, views range from full-length figures to extreme close-ups of faces. The subjects include laborers, skilled craftspeople, apprentices, hourly workers, maintenance staff, salaried professionals, and highly educated engineers. Each portrait is accompa-nied by an excerpt from a personal interview conducted at the time of the photograph. This is an artistic celebration of some of the thousands who make their living in the historic Hampton Roads, Virginia shipbuilding and ship repair industry. _{Support provided by Newport News Shipbuilding, A Division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.}

Working in Series

Photographs by Glen McClure

se·ries : A number of things, events, or people of a similar kind or related nature coming one after another.

In 1994, I took my first trip to Ireland. Ever since then I have enjoyed making photographs in series. More than just one nice image at a particular place, I enjoy working on a subject multiple times. It’s really more like the way we see: a number of images at different times and from different viewpoints make up a fuller sense of a place. I have gone back to the west of Ireland many times to capture the enormity of the place, because it really cannot be done best with just one image.

Similarly, a series of portraits from a single town or location will give you a more accurate feel of the diversity of that town. So during trips to Italy, France and Spain, as well as all over Virginia, I’ve done many street portrait collections of faces of the people who make up the town where they live. Thus the viewer can broaden his or her perception of the neighbors of the town or country.

If “a picture is worth a thousand words,” then perhaps you can give a more complete “picture” by doing photographs in series.

Meet Glen McClure

Born and living in Norfolk, Virginia, Glen McClure photographs people and landscapes in the US and Europe. He purchased his first camera at 19 and then joined the Studio Center as a photographer's assistant. After working as a photographer at Arthur Polizos Advertising, he launched his own commercial photography business in 1988.

Influenced by early 20th-century photographers Josef Sudek and Paul Strand, McClure had his first solo exhibition in 1997. Now, more than 60 solo and numerous group exhibitions later, his work can be found in many public collections including the Chrysler Museum of Art, The Mariners Museum , The Taubman Museum, and many private collections. Glen McClure’s work has been selected three times for inclusion in the prestigious Communication Art’s Photography Annual.

Artists as Photographers

Photographs by Various Artists

In the 1880’s, as photography became available to the masses, artists took an interest in this new medium. Edgar Degas, Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, Thomas Eakins and others explored this new medium as another art form or as reference material for their artwork in their preferred medium, such as oil painting. This practice continues today as many contemporary artists explore several traditional media as well as new technology. This small group exhibi-tion offers a glimpse of photographs by mostly regional artists who are best or exclusively known for their artwork in another media.

Displaying Artists

Carol Bartram, Paul Belote, Susan Check, Carolyn F. Davis, Holland Wentz Etheridge, Karen Long Freidt, Mariela Y. Freire Haga, James Warwick Jones, Christoph Leemann, Wade Mickley, Linda C. Miller, Rick Nelson, Robert Oppecker, Meera Rao, Mary Carr Roberts, Ali Rogan, Mary Lee Ruff, Elizabeth Shumate, Allan Skees, David D. Sorensen, Katie Stodghill, Walt Taylor, Jane M. Vaughan