“Expressions and Demeanors—Wildlife or Human?”
In the year since her last popular exhibit in the Gifford Gallery, Rochester VT photographer Barb Madsen DeHart has collected new photographs while travelling in Africa, The Galapagos, and Wapusk National Park in Manitoba, Canada. The pieces in the current exhibit, “Expressions and Demeanors—Wildlife or Human?” reflect a change in her objective as a photographer.
“I’m no longer pursuing just ‘photo ops,’ to capture shots of wonderful creatures,” she said. “Rather my focus is on glimpsing how wildlife inadvertently presents itself to the outside world, recognizing their expressions and demeanors as interpreted, in this case, by me.”
The exhibit features 28 portraits—of Polar, Spirit, and Kodiak bears; penguins; fur seals; lions; elephants; and walrus—with a whimsical caption describing what each might be thinking.
One of the photographs, “Polar Bear Mom and Cub,” was selected to be a National Wildlife Federation holiday card for 2015. It is one in a series that shows a mother and her 3-month-old cub emerging from their den in spring.
“The interactions and expressions of new mom and ‘newbie’ made me forget the anxiety I felt as my camera froze, my tripod and camera blew over, and as I vainly tried to de-ice my camera lens, viewfinders, and goggles!” DeHart said.
DeHart has exhibited at the Chandler Art Gallery in Randolph, VT; Compass Arts in Brandon, VT; and at the Annual Photo Show and the Member’s Show, both in Waitsfield, Vermont.
This exhibit is free and open to the public, and will be displayed through May 6, 2015. The gallery is located just inside the hospital’s main entrance at 44 S, Main St. (Route 12) in Randolph. Call Gifford at (802) 728-7000 for more information.
