An exhibit by PhotoArts Group from April 30 to May 24 at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts
Press Release
What is tourism really about? What if tourism was a permanent way of life? Are we all permanently tourists?
Twenty-seven San Diego County photographers have explored those ideas for a month-long show titled “The Permanent Tourist” that opens April 30 at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.
“Our aim in choosing a somewhat ambiguous theme for this exhibit is to challenge our membership and to create an added dimension for our audience,” said Will Gibson, former president of The PhotoArts Group and a member of the curating committee.
“Each artist has a unique response to the theme,” Gibson said. “We feel that we’ve succeeded in a significant way to create a collection that invites the viewers to ponder these differences and not only be entertained but also enlightened by deciding for themselves what a permanent tourist is.”
A companion book will be available for sale during the April 30-May 24 show featuring images in the exhibit and essays about how The Permanent Tourist engages the photographer.
Photograph by Fred Zuill – Normandie
Photo artist and PAG member Larry Herzog reflects on the importance of this exhibit and on the importance that photographers play as they confront, as we all do, the whirlwind changes of the 21st century.
Photography by Joe Nalven – Reading at the Wall
“Who will be the cultural and environmental warriors of the 21st century?”
The photographers in The Permanent Tourist exhibit were asked “what it means to be a permanent tourist on life’s journey. How do we see the world as tourists? What does it mean to be a tourist?”
Herzog points out that “photographers, by the very nature of what they do, are invested in a zen-like act: freezing fragments of the visual landscape, and hinting at their larger poetic meaning. Photographers are voyeurs of the earth and its cities. They capture nature’s exquisite details, snippets of the grandeur of towns and cities, the choreography of people in unique landscapes.
“In the best of cases, photographers remind the viewer to slow down. They are the archivists of what we need to save on the planet.”
About The PhotoArts Group
The PhotoArts Group is based in Escondido but its members come from around the county. The 27 professional and amateur photographers whose art will be displayed in the show live in San Diego, Escondido, Vista, Poway, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Encinitas, Chula Vista and Temecula.
PAG was created in 2003 when a group of photographers in Southern California joined together to show their work. PAG artists sought new and interesting venues to display their work by showing the group’s portfolio to the owners of coffee houses, galleries, libraries and theaters.
PAG has since mounted numerous successful shows. Recent venues ranged from ArtWalk in Little Italy and Spanish Village Gallery 21 in Balboa Park to Poway Center for the Performing Arts and the Human*Nature show in Escondido, where PAG converted an empty retail space into a full gallery with over 100 images in December 2007.
PAG photographers’ work encompasses a wide variety of styles and media, ranging from traditional gelatin silver to old and new alternative processes as well as digital imaging. Most of the fine art photos that the group displays is available for purchase.
Exhibit information
The Poway Center for the Performing Arts, at 15498 Espola Road, is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Please phone the center at (858) 668-4693 for weekend hours.
Admission to the gallery area is free.
A reception for the artists will be held Saturday, May 17, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., and the public is invited.
For more information, visit the PAG Web site www.photoartsgroup.org and the Web site for this exhibit at www.permanent-tourist.com
A list of artists in Permanent Tourist
Beth Bruton, San Diego
Sabina Buzaljko, San Diego
John Clark, Oceanside
Betsy Domanski, Temecula
David Dye, Carlsbad
Will Gibson, Escondido
Peter Gorwin, Escondido
Steve Gould, San Diego
Ron Ham, Encinitas
David Hamilton, Vista
Larry Herzog, San Diego
Kim Hirsch, Carlsbad
Fred Marinello, Escondido
Viki Miller, Vista
Gordon Moat, San Diego
Joe Nalven, Poway
Judy Olesen, San Diego (Rancho Bernardo)
Judith Preston, Carlsbad
Georgia Ratcliffe, Escondido
Paul Sewell, Chula Vista
Susan K. Smith, San Diego
Nicole Toesca, Vista
Sally Reis Vogt, Escondido
Patty Waite, Vista
Mary Waring, Escondido
Fred Zuill, Poway
Kim Zuill, Poway