May 13 – July 8, 2023

Beneath the Surface

by the Women Photographers Collective of the Hudson Valley

The Olive Free Library Association is very pleased to present the exhibition Beneath the Surface featuring the works of the members of The Women Photographers Collective of the Hudson Valley. The show will run from May 13 through July 8 with a reception on Saturday, May 20 from 3 – 5 pm and an artists’ meet & greet on Saturday, July 8 from 3 – 5 pm.

The Women Photographers Collective of the Hudson Valley was formed in 2020 as a way for Hudson Valley women photographers to network and support each other in their creative work, especially in the face of the isolation and disconnectedness of the pandemic. Beneath the Surface, a juried selection of work at the Olive Free Library, is their third public exhibition.

Photographs were selected by a curatorial group from among those submitted by thirteen members of the collective: Gail Albert, Ana Bergen, Shari Diamond, Jill Enfield, Lori Grinker, Maria Fernanda Hubeaut, Kay Kenny, Dorothea Marcus, Meryl Meisler, Charley Mitcherson, Susan Phillips, Carla Shapiro, and Ruth Wetzel. Joan Barker, a new member of the collective, assisted with the selection and installation of the show.

Beneath the Surface displays the diversity of the subjects, styles, and techniques of these photographers while at the same time pointing to an underlying commonality. All of the images on display refer to hidden stories, with some of them known to the photographer, while others simply point to a mysterious unknown. Sometimes these photos allude to an inner experience of emotion: to loss, or depression, or excitement, or even joy. Sometimes to the inexorable passage of time, and to what is gone and what remains; and their time frame ranges from the ephemeral effects of water or shadow to the eons of geologic time. They may refer to personal memories, or historical events or cultural issues, or to processes in nature; and they may be moody, meditative, or more documentary in style. But all deliberately evoke reference to something beneath the surface of the literal subject.

Women Photographers Collective of the Hudson Valley website.

Beneath the Surface
Exhibition Dates: May 13 – July 8, 2023
Reception: Saturday, May 20, 2023, 3 – 5 pm
Artists’ Meet & Greet: Saturday, July 8, 2023, 3 – 5 pm