Alan Nyiri, a photographer and artist from nearby Poultney, will have his show The Vermont Barn featured in the Christine Price Gallery at Castleton’s Casella Theater. The photographic exhibition, which celebrates the artistry of Vermont barns, will run from April 15 through May 18, with an “Artist Talk” scheduled for April 18 at 12:30 p.m. in the gallery.
The exhibit started with a limited-edition portfolio of fifteen prints of Nyiri’s barn studies and has previously been featured at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester. Nyiri has partnered with the Preservation Trust of Vermont to sell 25 portfolios, with proceeds going to the Trust for its restoration work.
Nyiri has adapted a new technique of digital photography called High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) specifically for printing his large, 36-inch images. "This technique not only allows for a much more detailed photographic image, opening up shadows and preserving highlight details," explains Nyiri, "but it also creates a depth and texture which give these images an almost three-dimensional effect." In describing the six-panel, 44 x 100-inch centerpiece of the exhibit, Nyiri observes, "You want to reach out and touch it."
"I can help to raise public awareness, I may even help to raise a little money for restoration projects," says Nyiri, " but ultimately, the best way that I can preserve our heritage is to photograph these barns as they stand, and transform them into living, breathing works of art. Each barn that disappears represents a part of our historic heritage that will not be replaced. When they're gone, they're gone." Nyiri then reflects, "We may be losing the bodies of our heirloom barns, but I intend to preserve their souls for future generations with my images."
ABOUT ALAN NYIRI
Alan Nyiri is a nationally recognized photographer and artist living in Poultney, Vermont. In addition to his fine-art landscape and nature images, Nyiri has won acclaim for his architectural studies of some of America’s most beautiful campuses. His books of such prominent universities as Cornell, Stanford, Georgetown, UCLA, and USC are perennial favorites. His latest book, Acadia Panorama: Images of Maine’s National Park, features panoramic photographs of Acadia National Park and received a 2009 national IPPY Award. Acadia Panorama is his fifth book about New England with publisher Down East Books. Other books feature his photography of Cape Cod, The White Mountains of New Hampshire, and the coast of Maine. He is currently working on a new book for Cornell University, which will include both a coffee-table version and an interactive e-Book edition.
In 2002, Nyiri was selected by the University of California president, Dr. Richard Atkinson, to create a comprehensive collection of images from all ten UC campuses, as a 40th Anniversary follow-up to a similar project commissioned to Ansel Adams by then-president Clark Kerr. Nyiri spent six months over a two year period to create several thousand 4x5 film images, including aerial studies. This would become Dr. Atkinson's farewell gift to the UC community and may be found online as the Atkinson Archive.
In addition to his commercial and artistic work, Nyiri was Artist-In-Residence at Southern Vermont College for 2008-2009 and has taught digital photography courses at several area colleges. In 2008, Nyiri founded the Vermont Photographic Workshop, a program initially designed to help traditional film photographers make the transition to digital photography.