Beginning on July 26 through Aug. 22, ArtsWest will feature an exhibition of talented and passionate art photography educators from Photographic Center Northwest in Inspired by Light.   

Brian Allen, Jahnavi Lisa Barnes, Janet Neuhauser, Rosanne Olson, Ron Reeder, Patricia Ridenour, Erin Shafkind, Seth Thompson and Mateo Zapata Zachai will exhibit selected art from their current bodies of work. 
 
Photographic Center Northwest, PCNW, is an accredited institution in Seattle.  Their reputation for excellence extends across the nation and the world. Treat yourself and join all the artists at their wine and cheese reception during the West Seattle 2nd Thursday Art Walk on Aug. 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. 
 
Brian Allen graduated with an MA from New York University and International Center of Photography with an undergraduate degree from Harvard University. In addition to teaching at Photographic Center Northwest for many years, Brian has taught at the International Center of Photography in New York, the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, the School of Art, University of Washington, and at the San Francisco Art Institute.  His work for Inspired by Light is a selection from his Flat Buildings series.  Three dimensional buildings are photographed from an angle that denies easy interpretation and leaves more questions than answers. 
 
Jahnavi Lisa Barnes specializes in kinesthetic awareness of atmosphere, feeling and sensitivity in black and white photography and primarily uses large format 4x5 cameras.  Her work has been shown extensively throughout the nation and is in numerous public and private collections.  Space itself becomes a defining experiential element in the selection of pieces from her series’ Earth's Body: the interpretive landscape, and Earth Rhythms: the elemental landscape.  She is the owner of Developing Light Fine Art Photography Workshops. www.developinglight.com
 
Janet Neuhauser was a successful freelance editorial photographer in New York City when she began teaching at the International Center of Photography and discovered her love for the art and craft of teaching photography.  An astute thinker and visual explorer with over 20 years of teaching experience, Neuhauser’s current work is an annual exploration of timed photographs that create a potential dis-ease for the viewer and ultimately explores physicality within time and space.
 
Rosanne Olson is an internationally known fine art photographer. She recently authored a book about women and body image titled This is Who I Am - our beauty in all shapes and sizes (Artisan Books 2008). Her dream-like photographs are from a series called Animal Dreams in which she imagines the secret lives of animals as they live privately, unseen by humans.  Rosanne has won numerous awards for her art and is represented by Robin Rice Gallery in New York and Benham Gallery in Seattle.  www.rosanneolson.com

Ron Reeder received a PhD from MIT in 1969.  He finds reality in photography somewhat boring. His current subject matter is imaginary landscapes of the mind.  He creates images with large format film cameras, scans several negatives to assemble the image in Photoshop and then outputs the final print in a darkroom technique using palladium for beautiful, lush fiber prints. In 2006 he co-authored Digital Negatives: Using Photoshop to Create Digital Negatives for Silver and Alternative Process Printing (Focal Press).  www.ronreeder.com
 
Patricia Ridenour's award winning photographs have been in Vogue, Mirabella, and Ornament magazines.  She is an internationally published fine art and commercial photographer. Her commercial client list includes Kodak, Thai Airways and Random House. Exhibits of her work have toured internationally. Her early work was in fashion and the current fine art series brings those two worlds together as affecting images of women, beautifully adorned and unadorned, are submerged in surreal environments.
 
Erin Shafkind is an educator and artist that received her BA in Studio Art from California State University.  Erin has taught in Seattle Public Schools and at Gage Academy of Art for the last 10 years. In her recent body of work she engages the viewer with awkward notions of dreams and narratives within the realm of the anti-aesthetic.  Her strange and sometimes silly images explore ideas on fragmentation and connection.  Shafkind has shown regionally and was included in the Contemporary Northwest Women in Photography Exhibit at the Frye Art Museum in 2003 and placed 3rd in the 2005 Camera Club of New York's national juried show. For more information, visit www.mustardworksstudio.com
 
Seth Thompson is a consummate professional artist exploring color as a reflection of culture, locale in space and time through photography.  His MFA in Painting from University of Oregon enriches his experience as a photographer.  Seth has exhibited nationally and in Mexico and is represented by the Nelson Hancock Gallery in New York. For more information, visit www.seththompson.com and www.nelsonhancockgallery.com
 
Mateo Zapata Zachai is a graduate of Yale University where he was also a teaching assistant and an undergraduate of San Francisco Art Institute.  His fine art photography has been exhibited at Martin-Zambito Fine Art in Seattle and is included in private and public collections.  His current work on trees challenges the typical interpretation of nature photography with a fresh, contemporary style.  www.zachai.com