Western Adams County – Photography at the Gettysburg Majestic Theater Gallery

(1/23) As a boy, Adams County photographer Brian Steinberger was fascinated by how a camera could capture a moment in time and put it on a paper print. “When I was 12 years old, I got my first real camera. My vision grew out of my lifelong curiosity and passion for nature . . . but I am also drawn to man-made objects and how they exist in the world within society and nature.” Western Adams County, an exhibition of Steinberger’s recent work, will open at the Majestic Theater Gallery in Gettysburg on Friday, February 1, with a First Friday reception from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

“If you look closely,” Steinberger explains, “artifacts of the past appear repeatedly in historic western Adams County. Old mills, schoolhouses, covered bridges, iron bridges, windmills, and abandoned automobiles . . . the doors and windows creating parallel lines and triangles, all a testament to their beauty, even after years of abandonment.”

That is what Americas’ Arts owner and exhibit producer Larry Knutson finds intriguing about Steinberger’s photography. “As someone who grew up in and explored Western Adams County, Brian has not only the knowledge of where these structures and objects are located, but also has an innate sense of their connection to the local culture as well as the lens of his camera. He derives the concept of his photograph from both its subject as well as from within himself.” In Brian’s words, he likes to take his photographs for “memory, documentation, and emotional purposes.”

As far as his craft is concerned, Steinberger prefers to have total control over the entire imaging process, “from the first sight of a potential subject to the presentation of the final print. Although he occasionally works with 35mm and large format cameras, most of his work is shot with medium format rangefinder cameras. He feels that rangefinder cameras are quicker, lighter, and offer sharper optics compared to SLR cameras, “as well as work well for my style of seeing and shooting. I shoot black and white film and process myself. Prints from deserving negatives are made on fiber base papers in my darkroom. Final prints are toned with one or any combination of selenium, sepia, and brown toners.”

Brian Steinberger’s photography exhibit, Western Adams County, will run through April 3rd at the Majestic Theater Gallery located at 25 Carlisle Street in Gettysburg. The gallery is open daily, from Noon until the theater closing time. For more information, contact Americas’ Arts via www.americasarts.com and info@americasarts.com

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