Telling stories with different points of view

Albuquerque photographer Elsa D’Ellis is among those showing at this year’s event.

	If you go WHAT: “Annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show” WHEN: Opening reception 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays-Mondays through Dec. 28. Closed on Dec. 24 WHERE: Fine Arts Gallery, Expo New Mexico, 300 San Pedro NE HOW MUCH: Free

D’Ellis says she is often inspired by nature and considers it her best teacher. She says that all her life she’s been a lover of nature and art and that she finds herself “seeing” pictures wherever she goes.

“My camera has become my third eye,” she explains. “The technology has allowed me to see beauty more clearly.”

D’Ellis says that her compositions are usually close-ups and abstracts and she often finds herself creating her own reality in the computer darkroom.

“My imagination takes me to a new dimension in my photography,” she explains. “The technology enhances the spontaneity of the emotions rather than pure reality.”

Often shooting at various locations around New Mexico, D’Ellis finds inspiration everywhere.

Her photo, “Moccasin’s Jingle” was taken in Old Town at the Don Luis Plaza looking down from the balcony at the Founder’s Day dancers.

“It was the Turkey Dance and I shot the feet of the head dancer while at rest,” she says.

Like D’Ellis, Santa Fe photographer Brad Stamm was influenced by the likes of photographers Elliott Porter and Ansel Adams.

He has become equally interested in urban and culturally aware portraits in locations remote from Santa Fe.

“Habana Chiaroscuro” is a digital photograph taken in Cuba by Santa Fe photographer Brad Stamm.

“I enjoy travel photography since I am able to capture the essence of people in their cultures and also make a visually stunning photograph,” he explains. “I went to Cuba with a Santa Fe photographic workshop. Rising before dawn everyday and out on the street, I was able to talk to the Cuban people and get a real feeling for their lives. I wanted to capture the beauty and contradictions of the island through my photography.”

While being inspired by nature and daily life, Stamm says his submission, “Habana Chiaroscuro,” is a photo of a looming governmental edifice trying to control the single individual.

“Parts of the building are decaying, while some parts are beautiful – contradictions,” he says. “It’s the pervasive influence of government on the individual. The individual walks in the light of his personal power, if he claims his freedom.”

Meanwhile, Albuquerque photographer Diana Kelleher finds inspiration in anything ramshackle, broken down, abandoned, old, useless or struggling to survive against all odds. She says her choices in photography stem from the emotional impact of a scene.

“I capture many views of that scene, store them, and a month later return to them,” she says. “In the editing process, I want to draw the eye to the essence.”

Her photograph “Abandon Hope” is of a building the old sanitarium in Waterford, Conn.

“It is up for demolition to build condos by the sea,” she explains. “It was decommissioned after allegations of patent abuse (treating children with tuberculosis). There is beauty in things our society uses, then discards, and that’s what I attempted to portray to the viewer in ‘Abandon Hope.’ “