WHAT: Exhibition of works by photographer Michele Buck of Lake Placid and visual artists Rene Elkaslasy of Keene Valley and Paul Casson of AuSable Forks.
WHEN: Ongoing. Coffee House hours are 5:55 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
WHERE: A New Leaf Coffee House Gallery, 2364 Saranac Ave., Lake Placid (next to Dr. David Balestrini's dental office).
PHONE: 523-1847.
LAKE PLACID — Photographer Michele Buck's "Through the Window" series is featured along with the work of visual artists Rene Elkaslasy and Paul Casson at A New Leaf Coffee House Gallery.
Buck's works offer seasonal views of Adirondack landscapes, with some pieces set off by old window frames.
"I got tired of the matted-frame look," said Buck, who is a former Adirondack Daily Enterprise photographer.
And she's looking beyond the originality of windows.
"I have an old serving tray at home. I want to put a photo in it," she said.
Some of the series is matted without frames.
"Matting and framing is a whole art in itself, and I wasn't the most qualified artist for that," Buck said. "It became harder and harder to come up with a look for my stuff that I was satisfied with. I saw one (old window) on the side of the road and started thinking about it differently."
Though she places her images behind glass, the window is not solely a frame but reveals a view as if through someone's window.
"The images are blown up to the size of the window pane. I seal it. It hangs like a regular frame. It's very unique," Buck said. "It takes me awhile to produce them. Some I have painted to match the photos a little bit. Some have interesting hardware like a lock or handle."
In A New Leaf Coffeehouse Gallery, one room is filled with her "Through the Window" series.
"It's like going in a room full of windows," she said.
REFERENCE POINT
Primarily a self-taught photographer, Buck began taking pictures two decades ago in and around her native Albany. As a teen, she worked at one-hour photo labs.
"I was always developing amazing photos. One of the photographers there put a camera in my hand and told me a couple of things. I just went at it."
A filmie, though she is on the cusp of digital, Buck always has two cameras loaded with either color or black-and-white. "Often, when I pick up that camera (loaded with black-and-white film), I tend to look at what I'm photographing differently. I use black and white in wedding details like on the bride's gown or hair. It's more like a memory when I shoot with black and white, a nostalgic thing."
Besides weddings and landscapes, Buck has dabbled with portraiture. Her two-year stint at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and Lake Placid News was the best job she ever had.
"Photojournalism greatly influenced my photography. Before that, I was a very strict purist in what I saw. No telephone wires or people in my photos. Pure scenics. As a photojournalist, you talk to people and cover events and news that's happening."
Now, she likes a hiker in her landscapes to add an extra layer of composition or act as a reference point for that boulder in the foreground.
WORLDS APART
The only formal training Buck received was introductory photography classes taught by Ken Wiley at North Country Community College. There, she learned the terminology for what she was doing naturally. She also received encouragement and honed her darkroom experience.
"Digital is a hard pill for me to swallow," Buck said. "It really set me back in my art of photography. Everyone is a photographer all of a sudden. I like to see people out taking pictures, but it has devalued the professional photographer a little bit."
Recently, Elkaslasy return from earning a degree at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Vancouver, and she invited Buck to exhibit her photographs in a joint show.
"Even though our styles are worlds apart," Buck said. "I took advantage of her inspiration and shopped around for a place. A New Leaf Coffee House was the best option for us. We will do shows from time to time and keep the public informed."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
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