By Jason Klaiber
Staff Writer
A locally based photographer’s landscape work will be exhibited by the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center at 205 Genesee St. in Auburn through May 12.
Earlier this year, at the art center’s request, Fayetteville resident Willson Cummer grouped together and submitted 10 photographs from his series entitled “Common Places.”
A curation of those submissions will be showcased in Gallery Julius.
“I was very happy to get asked,” Cummer said. “It’s a good space, and they draw a good crowd.”
The “Common Places” photos depict modest or mundane public areas that wouldn’t immediately appear remarkable at first glance, Cummer said.
“What I try to do as an artist is organize those elements in a way that is hopefully somewhat interesting to the viewer,” Cummer said. “This project is really celebrating what we have around us in Central New York.”
Cummer said when he visits locations fitting for this particular gallery, such as creeks and small parks, there usually aren’t any other people in sight.
“For me, the show is about more than just creating pretty pictures that people might like to look at,” Cummer said. “It’s also creating sort of a visual encouragement or inducement to get out there and experience these areas, with or without a camera.”
He views his explorations of these often-ignored places as meditative experiences.
Upon returning to his studio after a venture, he sifts through the 100 or so pictures taken and analyzes which ones work as two-dimensional images before making small prints and eventually final prints out of the best of the bunch.
Cummer shoots year-round, but his personal preference is to take pictures after the leaves fall.
“Then you can see more what’s behind the trees,” Cummer said. “It creates extra layers, whereas when you have full green foliage, that’s where the picture stops.”
Cummer’s long-standing interest in photography began in Ithaca in the early 1980s, on the cusp of his teenage years.
A family friend who worked in commercial and artistic photography opened up his darkroom to Cummer, allowing him to make black-and-white prints.
Cummer never took the formal education route or received a degree in photography, but he began taking the medium more seriously around the turn of the century.
He moved to Fayetteville in 2001 and started shooting pictures for sporting events and parties shortly thereafter.
Cummer entered the art photography realm just over a decade ago. To improve his craft, he regularly drove to attend workshops in Rochester helmed by Bruno Chalifour, who guided him toward landscape work.
In the years since, Cummer said he has seen the entry bar for photography getting lowered.
“Most people have a cell phone with a good camera on it now,” he said. “It’s in many ways very easy to make a photograph. What’s hard is making an interesting photograph.”
Stressing the importance of talking with other photographers and studying photo books, Cummer said he favors a refined approach over an expensive camera.
“There’s a belief, and I think it’s largely fostered by camera companies, that there is equipment that will make you a better photographer,” Cummer said. “It’s your mind you need to develop, not your equipment.”
Along with the opening of Cummer’s exhibit on Friday, the Schweinfurth hosted a statewide juried show called “Made in NY” and a display of paintings by married couple Pennie Brantley and Robert Morgan.
