|
“Horses and Icons of the West” is the exhibit of fine art photography shot on a Wyoming ranch by Robert Diehl to be displayed at Blanchard Community Library, January 22-February 27. |
Give me land, lots of land: Diehl’s Wyoming photos focus of SPSA exhibit
January 17, 2014
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Times
You won’t feel fenced in when you visit a 3,000-square-mile Wyoming ranch where “Horses and Icons of the West” will bring you land, lots of land under starry skies above as photographed by fine art photographer Robert Diehl at Blanchard Community Library.
Horses racing across hills in the Bighorn Mountains, cowhands returning home after a long day’s work and young cowboys in a winter storm are some of the images you will encounter in this Santa Paula Society of the Arts sponsored exhibit, displayed January 22 through February 27 on the Shively Wall.
Said Virginia Gunderson of the Society fo the Arts, “We proudly offer Mr. Diehl’s collection of photos, from which his ‘Shadows on the Wall’ won ‘Best of Show’ at our 76th Annual Art & Photography show at the Blanchard Community Library, last year.
“A very few photographers,” noted Gunderson, “can make that statement,” and have bragging rights to a win that represented a combination of votes cast by the judges as well as by the viewing public.
The photographs in the exhibit are from a collection made during a week-long vist to a 3,000-square-mile ranch in Wyoming.
Diehl studied at the West Coast School of Photography and at Professional Photographers of America seminars.
Diehl operated a commercial photography studio for years before he switched his focus to limited edition photographs ranging from landscapes and seascapes to people and abstracts.
He is continually adding to his collection-now nearly 50,000-of photographic images from which he produces photographs for illustrations and limited edition photographs.
Variety characterizes his art and keeps his outlook fresh: “I am always searching for new subjects and interpretations,” and texture and patterns in close-up abstracts “fascinate me as does the energy in street scenes.”
For “balance” Diehl stated he draws “inspiration from rendering natural beauty in landscape photographs.”
Variety is also present in the techniques he uses: “Some subjects such as abstracts may call for a crisp pure photographic treatment while the essence of other images are often best rendered in a softer style of an impressionistic watercolor.”
He has received recognition in juried exhibitions nationally and in Southern California. His work hangs in the Veterans Administration collection and in corporate and private collections.
Blanchard Community Library is located at 119 N. 8th St. Library hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, noon to 8 p.m.; Wednesday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information about the Santa Paula Society of the Arts visit www.thaspsa.com
