The tenth annual SPARK Photo Festival is on now until April 30 - “a celebration of photography, and the artists, dreamers, innovators, storytellers, professionals and enthusiasts behind the camera lens,” states an online description of the event.
With 29 venues throughout Northumberland County, Peterborough city and county and the City of Kawartha Lakes regions, the Festival is a wealth of photographic artistry from local photographers.
“The theme for SPARK's juried show was Water,” explained participant Ian Davis.
The Colborne Art Gallery has in their current show featured the works of Ian Davis and Ken Solilo with an exhibit entitled The Two Perspectives of Water. Their photographs are all water-themed, and are of Ontario and beyond.
Originally from Campbellford, Ian Davis learned about photography from his grandfather.
“When I was a bush pilot flying de Havilland Otters and Beavers in northern Canada, I always travelled with two things: a fishing rod and my manual Mamiya SLR,” commented Davis.
Port Hope resident Ken Solilo worked as Cinematographer/Videographer at the CBC for 35 years, and brings his expertise to his art.
“With a film background, the photoshop editing I do with a digital image is close to what I used to do with film in a wet darkroom, cropping, colour correction, saturation, brightness, contrast, dust removal,” said Solilo.
Another Northumberland SPARK contributor is Debby Smit, whose work can be viewed at the Tin Roof Dairy Bar in Brighton. Her inspiration comes from capturing images of old barns and abandoned cars.
“My work in the inner city of Winnipeg for 20 years, showed me the brokenness of people in ways I’ve never seen before growing up on a farm in Codrington. Yet there is so much beauty in the broken,” remarked Smit.
“Maybe that’s why the I love the old barns and cars – they remind me to see beyond the mess of banged-up metal and wood to see what they once were.
“That’s the same with mankind. Many are broken, hurting, left behind or ignored or abused, yet underneath the messy lives is a treasure waiting to be found and brought to light.”
From barns to boats, wildlife and sports, the variety of subjects, techniques and inspiration at the SPARK Photo Festival is diverse and engaging.
All images are framed and for sale with a wide range of sizes, subjects and prices.