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7/5/2012 - West Side Leader
     

By Roger Durbin

Shown is Carl Subich’s “To the beach,” which is on view in Summit Artspace’s Life’s a Beach.

Photo courtesy of Carl Subich

DOWNTOWN AKRON — When you mention the word beach, most people probably think of a big, wide, sandy space on the ocean. Four area photographers — Pamela Daum, Robert Dill, Carl Subich and Charles Szabla — expand our notions of that in the latest exhibit at Summit Artspace, Life’s a Beach.

This exhibit, which is on display through July 28, was inspired by a collection of black-and-white infrared images by Pamela Daum that she titled “Life Is a Beach.” Her photographs start in Florida and continue to the “north shore” — that is, Lake Erie — in Ohio. The artist uses infrared photography, which for her and the three cameras she said she had converted, means that all color is stripped away. The result is some arresting and visually charged images.

Daum’s “Life Is a Beach #2A,” which was taken along a small cove on the lakefront, depicts what seems to be a frosty tree against the left side of the image where a deep and beautifully empty looking lake seems the height of serenity. The scene conveys a stillness that is about to be interrupted. The house that is shown in the side ground of the image, along with the tree, acts as sentinel to any brewing movement that may come.

Subich examines time-lapsed photography in his images of Florida beaches and others on the lakes in Michigan and Ohio. This photographer takes multiple time-lapsed images in beach settings — sometimes milliseconds apart, he said — and then overlays them. Anything moving gets captured while the still places stay stationary.

His “To the Beach” is ostensibly a scene of beachgoers gathering along a multi-purpose oceanfront for swimmers, picnickers and sunbathers alike. The image shows the eternal steadiness of the sea while the people make their rapid way to it for their own enjoyment. You can see the movement of the people as they descend onto the beach.

Szabla focused his camera on Ohio’s north coast, capturing Lake Erie primarily as a backdrop. In one image, he shows a hazard sign with the wide-open water in the background. Sometimes beauty can be dangerous, he may be saying.

Dill features the serenity of the water’s edge in area woodland settings along regional small lakes and streams, reminding us there are beaches everywhere, not just oceans and large lakes. His images generate a strong feel for the rural landscape that is within easy reach.

Summit Artspace is located at 140 E. Market St. Regular gallery hours are Thursdays through Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. The exhibit also will be open until 9 p.m. July 7 for the Downtown Artwalk. Admission and parking are free.

Roger Durbin is professor emeritus of bibliography at The University of Akron and an avid art enthusiast. To contact him, email r.durbin@sbcglobal.net.

     

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