Wedding Tips

Weddings are one of the most, if not the most, important and planned for day. Often couples comment that it went by as a blur and that the photographs allowed them to relive those precious moments. One suggestion I have is to take some time to slow down on the wedding day. After the ceremony, possibly after formal portraits with family are completed, go for a stroll and take it all in. This slowing down of the pace allows reflection on what has just occurred and a more mindful presence for the festivities yet to come. Often I have even photographed aloof, candidly following the couple from afar as they take this moment of solititude and reflection. On occasion these pictures were the most romantic and candid moments of the day.

Other tips to creating a perfect day include providing the photographer with directions to all photography sites: hotel, place of ceremony and reception, with any waystops in between. This ensures accurate and timely arrival. Also provide a list of those formal portraits of family and friends to be done. In this way no one is left out.

Lastly, be sure to communicate with your photographer all of your ideas. Rapport is built upon the free flow of communication. I want to know about all of the couples ideas and concerns. In this way the wedding pictures are exactly what is wanted and the rapport is excellent.

Fine Art Paper

Images on display throughout April at ROLLY-MICHAUX GALLERY will represent a body of work from Kyoto, Japan during two trips in the Spring and Autumn of 2006.

Much attention has gone into the selection of paper to print on. After testing various papers 100% cotton Museo Paper by Crane & Co. was selected. The paper has a rich, textured surface, provides excellent detail while also allowing for a fine-art painterly feel. It's lush fibers allow for the creation of a deckle edge and all images will be deckled (torn or ripped edges) and float mounted.

ROLLY-MICHAUX GALLERY has 30 years experience in fine-art graphics, representing 20th Centuries preeminent artists including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro and Marc Chagall.

Image information: Faded Bough, limited edition of 20 and Artist Proofs available. Artist Proofs will carry the artist's chop, handcarved.

Autumn Blurs

A series of images entitled Autumn Blurs or Autumnals will be on display throughout April at ROLLY-MICHAUX GALLERY.

Artistically these images suggest soft layers of color and represent myopic views on nature. Some are the same viewpoint with different focal points while others stand alone. Compositions take into account the various layers of nature and deliberately choose to blur or focus. They can be considered a bird's eye view, or even that of an insect.

Technically, the photographs are taken with a long lens at wide aperture using manual focus to create blurs in the layers of rainy muted colors of autumn. These images are part of The Art of Mystery, Kyoto in its Season exhibition.

The Art of Few Words

Shadows Nijo Castle, Robert Castagna, edition of 20

Photographs inspired by Japanese Haiku:

Special Reception: Friday, April 6th 5-7 PM

The oft used catchphrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” is being put to a challenge in the exhibition of photographs by Robert Castagna entitled The Art of Mystery, Kyoto in its Season, on display at ROLLY-MICHAUX GALLERY throughout the month of April. The images of nature, season and mysterious detail are distillations drawing inspiration from the short but very meaningful poetry of haiku.

Many would agree that the thousand word adage, although hackneyed, is true. But describing a picture can be done in various ways. A documentary image has as its purpose the telling of a story. It therefore lends itself to words. But the images in Castagna’s new series are anti-documentary. Instead of telling a story, they rely on the muse of haiku and the Japanese aesthetic. Poetry, especially the shortest of its versions the haiku, gets to the essence of something poignantly and with little superfluity. It conveys insight and meaning while allowing room for participation. In this way so much more is said, when very little is actually there.

The images of The Art of Mystery, Kyoto in its Season should be read as haiku: viewed as short essences of time and representations of the repetitious cycle of the seasons providing insight to the moment and its details.