 This is Dennis McMahon and welcome to Positively Vermont and Today, we are going to be exploring Essex Junction's dark room gallery and a Vermont photographer Who is going to be exhibiting there in the very near future as well as some other aspects of the work being done by and at the dark room gallery which Is a very familiar locale in beautiful downtown Essex Junction Near the railroad station and a very great addition to the entire community and perhaps the state and my guests are Ken Cignorello of the dark room gallery and Peggy Reynolds of Vermont photographer Welcome Ken and welcome Penny Peggy, welcome Peggy. Dennis And of course tell us a little bit about yourself Ken, please And the dog on I'm a I do some photography. I've done a lot over the years. I'm a study photography in college And when this space became available 12 years ago It became empty. It was empty for quite a while. I looked in and I says, oh That looks like a good place for a gallery long and narrow And there was a model gallery that was going on in Middlebury That we thought was a great idea and what they did and what we're doing Or did do was we ran juried photography exhibits where you would set a theme find a qualified juror And then ask photographers to submit their work for a small fee That juror we got a thousand maybe two thousand images or so in for a particular show And then the the juror would select the cream of the crop about 50 or so images and those would be sent in either on paper Framed or we would print them and frame them and we would hang them and show Have a show for about a month and we had a reception where the artists would sometimes come if they were Not too far away and that worked out pretty well. We did that for 10 years We did about 100 shows But one thing that was consistent is one particular photographer tended to be in almost every single show selected consistently and She was local and I mean really local. She lives right here in Essex Junction and So in covet hit we kind of shut down. It was a difficult situation. So we just shut down for for two years now And we're getting ready to open up and do something and I felt we do something a little different and we give a show to Peggy Who's got a lot of great images. Um, she's been studying a practice in photography I'm studying herself. Actually, you'll see the lot of the work that she has is um our self portraits and So she'll be hanging um her show. When is your show start? We have to go look may 10th something like that may 13th may 13th. There we go I think it's a friday. Yes, it's friday the 13th. Good luck And um, so that'll be up for a month and then we're gonna have a reception on 20 seconds. I believe it is Yes, it is So Dennis if it's okay with you if you have no other questions of me I will turn things over to Peggy. Let me ask uh, uh, Peggy, uh, tell us a little bit about yourself and your work Well, I originally started it off as a hobby. Um, a long time ago Using film and doing darkroom work and then I just stopped doing it for the longest time Then I took it up again And I was posting work online And then I found that I was experiencing large amounts of art theft and then I thought well if it's good enough to steal Maybe there's something to it. And then it's when I started um entering juried exhibitions What do you mean by art theft? Who was taking that they were taking it from the line online, right? And they you know, it would end up on commercial websites People claiming my work as their own it wound up in Photographers portfolios. It's it was just crazy My invitation is the highest form of flattery, but it's illegal This is true, but I thought well, I I didn't think my work would you know I didn't have a thought about like the quality of it I just do it because I enjoy it and I said well, maybe I should try some exhibitions. Maybe maybe it's pretty good Right. And what what? Type of work is it? I'm you know today is it's kind of difficult. I started out in college and we were you know We were taking pictures with camera 35 millimeter and developing them and People are just taking up with with phones Tell us your medium and how you work with Well, I still like film. Um, I started out with film. I still have my original film camera It's a Olympus om one end and I also have my dad's role of Lexity gave me sets kind of cool But um right now I'm using a Canon 5d mark 3 digital And how does that work? Does it produce a computer image or or do you develop? That's what I'm trying to get at Oh, okay. Um Well, it makes the digital image and then you you process it online with software. I mean process it on your computer with software As opposed to going in the dark room Um, the thing is I'm trying to marry both in a way. I like the look of film So I try to make my digital photos look like film as much as I can I also prefer a more vintage kind of look to my photos That's kind of that that's the um, that's what I try to do. Anyway I see so that's that's very curious because uh um There are people who work solely in in each different media Uh, but the idea of melding it, you know, again, I I feel that personally I take a lot of What I I don't call photographs home pictures and you know, uh, that's fine people say they like them but To me as old as I am I still think of the But the cameras with the f stops and the lighting and through the settings and all that You still have to do all of that. I have to I do all my own settings, you know f stops and you know Everything and the lighting is always critical. It's not like some magic box where you just point and shoot I see so what when did you uh first find that uh, you know, your work was being replicated Oh, I guess around 2012 2013 That's quite a long time ago Yeah, it's still happening. I just if it's online someone's going to take it. That's just how it is What types of subjects uh intrigued you in the beginning and what types of subjects are you working on now? Um pretty much anything that catches my eye. I do Well self-portraits obviously, but I also do landscapes. Uh, a lot of I did a lot of new york city street photography I'm architecture urban exploration wildlife pretty much Pretty much anything that look oh still life anything that's of interest um, mostly what i'm trying to do is convey a concept or Convey something to happen in my life and I I wonder how would that represent be represented in picture form that kind of thing So it's kind of like a visual diary for me I can look at a photo and I knew exactly where what I was feeling and where I was at at that point in time When did you start doing this personally? Well a long time ago, um Originally I started uh probably like 30 years ago and then I then I didn't do it for the longest time and then uh I guess around 2008 I started doing it again. I was doing um metal work And I didn't want to pay anyone to take pictures of my photo of my work for because it's expensive So I did my own because I didn't use to do photos I whipped out my film camera took my photos for an exhibition for my metal work And I've had gee I forgot how much fun this was and then it just progressed Tell us about that other uh Form that you were metal work. Tell us about that Well, I was taking um jewelry classes um at the shellburn Craft school and then I was taking also private lessons with my uh with a metal working teacher She had like a studio got to use all her stuff Which was cool and then she entered some of my work in an exhibition, but I needed photos And I wasn't going to pay what she pays for her photos So I said well, I'm doing it myself and at that time I was using my film camera So I used um my Olympus, but I also took some of my work with um my dad's roly That's amazing camera. It's the one you wind up uh like oh yeah And you and you look down at a viewfinder and use um 120 film And I just that's like my favorite camera I remember old news photographers using those Many years ago When I was a cub reporter That that's really interesting. Now tell us about this exhibit that's coming up How are things going to be arranged and what will people see? Well, um, there's going to be 51 photos um taken over probably about 11 maybe even 12 years as a period of time and it's just like Maybe I made up a story and it was I'm a character in the photo or Or something or some emotion I was feeling at that moment and I wanted to express it in an image or um or a concept Like For example, one of the photos um, it's called under the influence It's how media affects people's perceptions and and how it affects society and I have a photo that represents What that would be about how that looks to me I see the the title photo there on the There's a framed photo Of the poster the poster is very nice It's in ken's window and I see it or another place to tell us what that photograph The name of that photo is autumn air and it's kind of like That's good. Um That's um, it's kind of like the personification of autumn air If it were a fairy or a person, I love the smell of the air and in autumn It's just very crisp and clean and and I think of when I think of autumn I think of the color of the leaves So I have red balloons capturing this air and then of course there are legs because it's sort of a personification If if autumn air were a person That's what it would look like That's brilliant. That's very interesting And why did you chose that as your Dean photo any particular reason? Well, I kind of there's a lot of different kinds of photos. Um, but that one has um I usually do black and white, but I thought the color looked very appealing and it would be catch the eye Well, that's very interesting uh, uh in black and white. Um How does how does that work in terms of But let's say, you know, we live in a very colorful state with our autumn leaves and now we're getting a bitter greenery and all of our Snow, of course, which is white. How does black and white? help Convey what you want to You have the absence of color You're focused on the emotion of the image it convey black and white conveys an emotion like like Nothing else color can be a bit of a distraction For example with black and white you have um shadows and light you have contrast and it can convey something Really powerful, I think I've noticed even at some some photos that are are taken in color actually look black black Uh, I saw something that happened to me with that I was making do I have this right but no it it came out black. Do I even know it was of a color subject? What could be it was just um the colors probably were just muted for you know, whatever the lighting was Maybe it was a gray day and they just didn't pop That's great and what um What has uh influenced you in terms of the the vermont environment in terms of your work The backdrop of vermont it's so dramatic And and you get the feeling like something happened here You get you know, it's just you'll go in go in different parts of a forest And you just feel like there's there's a kind of magic and swamps have a kind of magic to them or even um Like with urban exploration, you'll see like a ramshackled um building at sort of like falling down But you wonder who lived there. I know you just get the sense of a story. There's a lot of drama here Yeah, I can see that particularly downtown Burlington just a lot of things that are not there anymore You know the the site down there near the uh city place site You know just extremely grim no matter how you take it, you know, whether it's color or black or white I took a few photographs of that myself Not for artistic reasons, but just for journalistic reasons So that that's amazing stuff. What about people do you do any portraits of people? um mostly of myself or um my I've also taken quite a few of my family My favorite model is my daughter We have I have a lot of lovely photos of her as well. She was a a willing model. Thankfully Great What do you do with your self portraits? How do you work that? well I don't know um Well, I I have the camera setup remotely, you know where I can just I had a have a remote button to release the shutter I have another one that's just for the um for the flash And I I have like a and pretty much anywhere it'll be I have a little room set up in my house. That's like my makeshift studio But it could be my daughter's bedroom. It could be my driveway. It could be my backyard It pretty much anywhere That's great and and what what um, what's next to you uh, are you planning other other exhibitions or Any other uh projects such as maybe uh, I know There are always projects. Um I have a pretty huge catalog that I'm trying to organize like I have a ton of new york city street photos I have um A lot of california desert photos that I'm I'm putting together because it was very German In a way, it's funny the desert in a way is dramatic the same way vermont landscape is dramatic You sense that story is happening. You know something happened here. It's very beautiful very almost exotic and um, so I'm trying I'm organizing everything That's great and Will people be able to buy these photos or or uh, yes, how does that work? well, um At the uh darkroom gallery for the show the all the photos are for sale And I also have a catalog with all the photos that are in the exhibition Which is the catalog is also for sale And how big is that how big is the catalog? Here it is Ken is doing a great job here. Yes. He is what happens when no one is looking. That's the theme Yes, come up with that from what happens when one is looking A lot of these photos i've done like Out of doors like for example the balloon photo I kept thinking this is really strange if the neighbors see me i'm going to die um Because i'm there with the balloons and I figured well Hopefully no one will ask what what i'm doing I've had other photos where i'm in costume in the forest across the street from my house And i'm thinking if anybody come is coming you through by for a walk and they see you with the camera and the costume It's going to be a little weird, but so it's pretty much When no one sees me and i'm i'm doing experimenting Great And uh, maybe we can get ken back here for a second and uh Maybe he can right i'm right here. That's okay. Tell us like This you're having an opening reception. Uh, we are in here and tell us what's going to happen there Well, the receptions are pretty simple affair. We'll have some refreshments obviously and people can come in over the course of the four hours I believe they can meet with Peggy talk with her. They'll learn a little bit more about each of the images um find out if there's something that they were interested in to purchase And um, yeah, it's an informative kind of a thing, you know, they'll they'll see other Things here at the gallery. We have some items on this place some old cameras and things So um, it's an interesting place to visit regardless That's right and will you be uh Speaking to uh to the group or uh, just be available We don't well i'll be here and i'm gonna speak to anybody that comes in certainly But um, no, we don't have any like seminar sort of idea at this point schedule But i'm usually when as of happening at the receptions and we've done a hundred of them um, you know folks are intrigued by the images and um, we have conversations And um people learn about what's going on with the artist is trying to convey It really varies from show to show and how many artists show up But in this case we're lucky we're gonna have all the images with Peggy's And she'll be able to explain her process and her work and what she's trying to accomplish That's on may 13th. What time will it start the show opens on may the 13th? And the reception is on may 22nd Uh Double check that yep may 22nd from four o'clock to seven p.m So it'll be open over the Memorial Day weekend. That's a pretty busy weekend here in Essex Junction If you know about the Memorial Day parade, it'll actually be on again Um, it's been off for a couple of years. So this year it's back So that's a big event. There'll be a lot of foot traffic and people will be stopping in certainly That's not the day of the reception But nevertheless that'll be a nice Some opportunity for folks to come and do two things come and see the show and see the Memorial Day parade That's really great And the catalog is that out yet the physical catalog? Yep, the catalog is here and um It's really really a lovely catalog Peggy did an incredible job putting this together. I mean some of the images in here are just Fabulous if you take a look That's really beautiful One of my favorite images in here. Where's the one with the hat? That's that's I think my favorite Yeah, here it is This is an image I think It's just exemplifies Peggy's skill level. This is this is a mastery of photography That really that really looks like some of the relatively famous photographs. You'd see I guess in Wolves or something like that. Can I talk about that image? Yeah, I can um I I love Photography from early photography, but I think my favorite is probably Uh late fifties early 1960s, you know, I'm thinking like look in life magazine that kind of thing and What do you have burn and like that that kind of look? I that a lot of my photos have that have that feel I I just love the way that I don't know that was that that speaks to me I love that style That's great What would you tell somebody? And can't uh chime in two of these there What would you tell someone who just wants to get started in in number one collecting? Collecting and then someone who wants to get started in maybe doing their own work their own artwork Well for collecting you should always choose what you like don't choose what you think will Increase in value choose the things you love if it speaks to you if it strikes you that's what you should collect Now as for being a photographer Um, I'm not formally trained. Um, the best way to do it is take lots of photos Try different types of photography, you know styles and see what what works for you Generally, if you take a lot of photos, you'll what I found is I tended tended to go towards a certain style Towards a certain certain subjects. So you'll find that if you do enough of it It's not like a once a week thing. It should really be like um dally take something every a little every day In my suggestion if you're not going to go through a formal education process Which is useful because you get some history of photography as well and you'll be exposed a lot of work from photographers over time if you're coming from a do-it-yourself sort of perspective the alternatives there are Take images a lot of them certainly but maybe get involved in some groups where you You value the opinion of others that are in the group And find out if your work is accomplishing what you think it should be accomplishing and what your goal is Or maybe even get some pointers as to how to accomplish something if you're not quite getting it That's another way to um to educate yourself. Um, also youtube videos are really helpful. Yeah, definitely I've learned a lot from youtube from a technical standpoint. Yes And a subject matter Right subject matter because some but um technical because people have like Just like how to you know do it yourself lighting Do it yourself, you know different ways to um approach a subject. Um, I also like for street photography I had no clue. So I saw like different methods people use like they would hold their camera like maybe like A little below their chest and then start clicking so they wouldn't look so obvious You don't want to have it up to your face that kind of thing There are a lot of techniques both in terms of lighting shooting And um, that's something you can get from um looking at youtube videos Certainly or post processing just like in the old days dark room. You had to learn how to dodge and burn These were physically technical skills. Well now there's more Different kinds of technical skills and youtube is really really good for that Right and uh, I know uh chan has a facebook page. Could you tell us your facebook page there? Or do you have a website as well? The darkroom gallery has a facebook page facebook.com slash darkroom gallery And there you'll see um Information about this show. There's an event that's set up and you can subscribe to that and be posted and then we'll Put little updates on there as well And uh, Peggy, do you have a website or or? I do it's um, it's Peggy Reynolds studio.com It's not open to the public right now because Because there's so much art theft, but it will be open soon. I just have to make it a little more secure I understand that I understand that and can tell people who might not be as familiar as I am with the with the location It's on mainstream. Give us give us some directions. Oh, everybody knows gallery The way the five corners are right The five corners are an extension and the darkroom gallery is out the five corners right next to martins deli Which is a very famous spot around the corner from the um track in the bus station That's not a railroad avenue. You just come around the corner. We're on main street 12 main street Right between the um the bank and martins That's right And once this is over, uh, do you have any plans for any, uh, very good question What will be happening in the gallery after Peggy show? It's hard to say Um, I'm not sure we're gonna go back to the jury to exhibit model I mean it was it was wonderful and we were providing a good service We were giving exposure to artists and then we discovered Peggy So there's a lot to be said for that model And um, but um, I'm not sure one thing I'd like to do if I can um get my day job to ease up a little bit I'd like to start doing more of my own work I do a fair amount of photography also, but haven't really been able to focus on it the way I might like to So maybe I'll be showing some of my own That's great. That's very interesting stuff Well, I want to thank you for appearing on positively vermont My guests have been ken singerello of the dark room gallery located on main street in beautiful downtown s function And photographer Peggy Reynolds Will be exhibiting her work on starting on may 13th And a reception on may 22nd And hopefully you'll see the posters either in the window or online and Stop by and see it. This is really a very interesting Group of work that you have Thank you. That's great. Thanks for having us. Thank you. Thank you. Ken and Peggy This has been Dennis McMahon and this has been positively vermont. Thank you for watching