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September 18, 2008

Jennings photographic retrospective at Pine Harbour

Exhibit captures local photographer's evolution

By ROBIN CAUDELL

Howard Jennings's ninth solo show, "Sensitivity Training!" Thirty-Year Retrospective Exhibit 1978-2008," is, in part, dedicated to his late father and stepmother.

It also documents the evolution from his 1968 studies with Bill Crosby at Plattsburgh State to his re-energized digital aesthetics. The show features social documentation images, abstract Sabattier effects (solarizations), and never exhibited portraits from his travels in Greece and the Dominican Republic.

"I can't wait to go back," said Jennings of Greece. "It was amazing light and heat. It was 112 degrees in Athens. The blues were incredibly brilliant, the hues. It's a different kind of light. There's nothing more beautiful than where we are in the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain, but it's a different kind of beauty."

He and his wife, Laura, were typical tourists visiting various ruins and historical spots with the off-the-beaten-path exception of Varvitsa, a small village near Sparta. His brother-in-law's in-laws lived there.

"I was able to get portraits of these people I wouldn't have been able to get as a typical tourist," Jennings said. "Hopefully, the viewer gets some sense of the personalities. That was pretty exciting for me."

SENSITIVITY TRAINING

In the Dominican Republic, Jennings and his wife were tourists but also volunteered at a local school.

"That will depict the poverty they were dealing with. We brought school supplies, and they had a picnic with ice cream and sandwiches. Most of the Dominican images are from that. We did a tour and went into some coffee bean plantations. I was able to get some portraits there. That was a whole different kind of light as well."

Jennings's social documentation arises out of his desire to sensitize his viewers to social conditions in our local area. His influences include Dorothea Lange, W. Eugene Smith and Lewis Hine, whose Depression-era and social-documentation photography brought attention to the disenfranchised.

"People around the world think all the United States people are rich and live in mansions. This is far from the truth. The idea behind this show, Sensitivity Training,' is the images will evoke an empathy and certain sensitivity to our fellowman."

Jennings's work has appeared in numerous magazines, books and publications including Adirondack Life, Photographers Forum and Darkroom Techniques. He recently participated in the International Haiku Conference and Festival at Plattsburgh State. He collaborated with poet Roberta Beary to create haigas, a Japanese literary form, which incorporates an image and haiku.

"We seemed to be in sync as far as our approach and the kind of translation and so forth. She was a sweetheart and obviously very talented. I really never had that kind of opportunity before, to have someone to collaborate with my work that way."

MOSTLY DIGITAL NOW

At Plattsburgh State, Jennings received a master's degree in special education and studio arts. He was encouraged by Patricia Reynolds, an internationally recognized artist and Willsboro resident. In the summer of 1982, he was selected to study with his hero, Ansel Adams, an octogenarian at the time, at the Robert Louis Stevenson School in Carmel, Calif.

"Normally, his workshops were at Yosemite. It was his last workshop. Part of the time, I was in his home, his lab and book-writing room. He was a classical piano player."

It was surreal for Jennings, in a small group of 10, to be in the presence of the legendary photographer, surrounded by his iconic images.

"All these famous Ansel Adams prints around and not even under glass. I get bumps thinking about it. He was wonderfully interesting but also down-to-earth and kind of unassuming. You could talk to him and not feel intimidated."

Adams' critique was for Jennings to expand the scope of his social documentation by also photographing the subject's environment to inform the viewer.

"As far as technically, there were a number of darkroom techniques we explored and practiced and went over. That helped me become a better printer. He was also very open to experimentation and new ideas. Even though he was a perfectionist and somewhat a purist, he was willing to try different things."

Adams would very much enjoy the digital age and would not be against it, in Jennings's estimation.

Though he plans to keep his darkroom, most of Jennings's work is digital now. His new images are not hand printed, but what he gains is more flexibility as far as shooting images and less stress by being able to discern and correct at a glance if an image is under- or overexposed.

Now that he is retired from teaching -- 39 years at Northern Adirondack Central School in Ellenburg and 27 years at Clinton Correctional Facility -- he has more time for his photography, including his well-known wedding photography and an upcoming Southwest tour with photographer Shaun Heffernan and his wife, Amanda Palmer, director of the Alice T. Miner Museum.

Jennings's most recent project has been working on images for his son Howard III's music CD and "Acoustic EP."

"It's a lot of fun again," Jennings said.

rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

If you go
WHAT: "Sensitivity Training! Thirty-Year Retrospective Exhibit 1978-2008," featuring the photography of Howard Jennings. Presented by Pine Harbour Assisted Living and Norte Maar.
WHEN: Opening reception 5:30 to 7 p.m. today. Show runs through Dec. 30.
WHERE: Pine Harbour Assisted Living, 15 New Hampshire St., Plattsburgh.
HOURS: Sunday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
PHONE: Call 561-5307 for more information.

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