Local Photographers to Exhibit at Senior Center

— from Dave Kosiur —

For all of September, the walls of the Lundeen Room at the Orcas Senior Center will be treated to a fabulous exhibit of photographic work by a group of professional photographers who jokingly refer to themselves as the “FabFoto 5.” Dave Kosiur, Derk Jager, Peter Olesen, John Altberg, and Jeff Otis originally connected through the Orcas Camera Club, of which they were all members.

They have been meeting together as a smaller group for about five years, sharing and supporting one another in their individual experimentation, development, and enjoyment of their art. This show of some of their work will include wildly creative and fun fine art photos.

Dave Kosiur, one of the original organizers of the Orcas Camera Club, had been focusing on landscape photography here in the U.S., as well as in Europe and Japan. Lately, he’s turned his attention to smaller scale, “intimate” landscapes and abstraction in photography. Dave’s been shooting digital for years and does all his own printing, both in color and black & white. His book, Minimals – My Approach to Minimalism in Photography, is a small compilation of images that reflect his approach to abstraction or minimalism in photography. Some of Dave’s work can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/51779535@N00/albums.

Derk Jager was a professional advertising photographer in a previous life, but today he has left all that behind to focus on abstract, as well as experimental photography techniques for his own personal enjoyment. He quips that he “also can’t avoid photographing the occasional landscape.” Although he now photographs mostly with digital, he delights in venturing back to film on occasion. He does all his own printing.

Peter Olesen has been “chasing light over the western landscape with large and medium format film cameras for over 50 years” and still prefers printing his black & white work in the darkroom. He’s a former photography teacher at the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, who considers himself mostly self-taught, despite having studied with such notables as Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, Brett Weston, Duane Michaels, and Linda Conner. Peter has exhibited in small galleries and universities throughout the United States. His work can be found at https://peterolesenimages.com/.

Jeff Otis’s romance with the camera has lasted over 45 years. While an undergraduate, he was employed as a photographer for Washington State University and in the late 1970s, Jeff had the privilege of working at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite – while Ansel was alive and teaching there. Since living on Orcas, Jeff’s small photography business sold prints at the Farmers Market and his work has been shown at Orcas Center, The Gallery in uptown Eastsound, and at the Senior Center.

Honoring John Altberg, who was an active member of the FabFoto 5 group until his passing last year, will be some of his photographs, as selected by his wife, Rosemarie Altberg. John Altberg’s images are animated by versatility, accompanied by unobtrusive chronicling of habitats, events, and inhabitants. Having grown up with a camera always at his side and early profession in commercial and editorial photography, John spent 31 years with KODAK Professional, retiring as a Regional Vice President.

This exceptional exhibit is not to be missed.