Ogawa's Views of the World Now on Display at UNM-Valencia Fine Arts Gallery

Reception Set for Nov. 28

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Rosalind Ogawa with a photograph she took of Machu Picchu.

LOS LUNAS, NM (11/21/2012)(readMedia)-- Setting up a darkroom was easy enough in Britain during World War II. Since the country was being bombed daily by Germany, windows were to remain covered.

Rosalind Ogawa's father was an architect, and he enjoyed photography. Ogawa was a young girl during WWII, and she has memories of helping her father in his makeshift darkroom. Helping her father was the start of a passion for photography that she has pursued her entire life.

Her first camera was "a little box camera with a viewfinder that was a piece of wire you pulled up," Ogawa said.

Now Ogawa uses digital cameras, and she doesn't work in a darkroom anymore as she converted to digital photography several years ago. Digital editing software allows the photographer to really manipulate images, but Ogawa keeps to enhancements similar to what can be done in a darkroom.

"I crop and enhance colors a bit, but that is about the extent of it," Ogawa said.

Anyone who visits the UNM-Valencia Fine Arts Gallery now through Dec. 12th will have the opportunity to view some of Ogawa's work that represents her views of the world over the past five years. A reception is planned for Wednesday, Nov. 28, from 5 to 7 pm at the gallery. Digital images in the exhibit are subjects that caught her eye in Valencia County, as well as from trips in Texas, Peru, Ecuador, China and Kenya.

Her images range from macro photography, to landscapes, to wildlife, to people. As she put it, she takes photographs of "bit and pieces of things, from travels to close-ups."

Ogawa's work has a photojournalistic quality about it. One can't help but feel she is providing her viewers with a report of where she has been, but at the same time she is very aware of composition, color and light. One piece is simply a set of stone steps that is composed with a strong diagonal line that leads the eye up the stairs chasing the light that is perched on each step.

That photojournalistic seed was planted in her childhood. "When I was a kid, I got to read 'Lilliput Magazine.' I would turn to the photo section in the middle," she said. "It was like 'Life' before it came out."

"Lilliput" was a small-format monthly magazine published in Britain starting in 1937. It was founded by Stefen Lorant, a photojournalist. The magazine featured humor, short stories, the arts, and of course photography. The magazine was known for publishing daring nude photographs of females, and that was one of the things Ogawa remembers about the magazine.

Ogawa has not included any nudes in her campus exhibit, but she does enjoy nude photography. Several photographers have inspired her for their work ranging from photojournalism to nudes. One photographer is Bill Brandt, who was born in Germany and then lived in England. He was known for his imagery that ranged from surrealism to realism. He did both striking, artistic nudes and striking, artistic photojournalism.

She also enjoys the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, considered the father of modern photojournalism; Diane Arbus, whose subjects were deviant and marginalized people; Ansel Adams, the great American landscape photographer; and Rondel Partridge, who worked with Dorothea Lange, known for her visual documentation of the U.S. depression of the 1930s.

All of these photographers are best known for their work in black-and-white. All of them have distinct styles and made use of the black-and-white medium to push their visual voices.

Only two pieces in Ogawa's show are black-and-white. One was an accidental overexposure of a zebra and the other is a comical piece of a mutt dog. Some of her pieces have very subdued use of color, and other images are quite bright and very abstract.

Two of her abstract pieces are examples of macro photography, and she confided that the images are close-ups of paint on Cadillacs found at the Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, TX.

Humor is definitely a part of her vision. One piece in the exhibit is a collection of signs that she has photographed in various countries. Two signs in the piece are from China and are in both Chinese and in English. The English translations are quite humorous.

One sign reads, "The bridge opening is too low please take care of your head." Another stated: "Your health rests with your civilized behavior."

Ogawa has taken photographs all of her life but has never worked professionally as a photographer. She worked as a chemist for a number of years and actually did graduate work in chemistry. Ogawa planned to complete a PhD in chemistry, but that was interrupted by the illness of her mother. She returned to England to help care for her mother and did not complete the degree.

Along the way she married her husband who was Japanese. The couple actually lived in Japan for six years and in Mexico for 11 years, among other places.

A number of years ago her husband was pursuing post-doctoral work in Tucson, AZ, where they divorced.

Though she started her career in chemistry, she did not stay in chemistry. While doing volunteer work in Mexico, she became interested in adoption work. That led to completing a master's in social work at Arizona State University in Tempe.

She officially retired in 2000, "but I have been busier since I retired than I was before I retired." Ogawa continues to do social work and she works independently as an adoption social worker. She has lived in Valencia County longer than any other place she has lived. Ogawa is the current treasurer for the Belen Art League.

Future trips, and future photographs, include Alaska, the Panama Canal and Costa Rica. What does she plan to photograph?

"Whatever I am attracted to," she said. "These are memories of what I like. I really take pictures for me, and I hope other people like them, too."

Ogawa's show concludes the exhibits for the semester at the fine arts gallery. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located on the south side of the campus in the Business and Technology Building.