Gallery edition: Maine authors have crafted these 28 stories and essays to accompany fine art photography in this quality color edition of their choices from the 22 works of art in the September 2019 exhibit at Fukurou gallery, illustrated herein.
From the preface: Art critique is one thing, while a writer's view may be another. And the reflections of an innocent bystander another yet. In the sound of the Japanese word "Fukurou," I somewhere hear an owl. Folks grown up in the West might think of the Greek goddess Athena and her associations, but the owl has many multicultural things to say, including about art. Maine, coastal and inland, is historically connected with worldwide trade and cultural exchange. From Melville's Mainer out of the forest showing up on a South Pacific island in Typee to the scenes in Neil Rolde's Maine in the World, an owl may not be so out of place as a moose. Which is as much to say, Polar Bear & Company, an imprint of the Solon Center for Research and Publishing, has requested eight hundred words or less from any self-described Mainer on any of the works currently exhibited at gallery Fukurou, recently established at 20 Main Street, Rockland. We did not know what to expect, but the response of eighty-eight contributions was larger than that, and we are immensely thankful to all contestants; I prefer the term "contributors" with such creativity, especially for a nonprofit, even though we had to be publishers and be selective, hopefully forgiven. A major consideration was that we look for fine writing inspired by as many of the individual works exhibited as possible. Some of the essays and stories are wonderfully distant from the author's chosen artwork hanging in the gallery, as you will see. So raw competition for literary quality was moderated by inclusion of art, which seems appropriate, as we inaugurate this series of annual publications and their book-signing events at the gallery. For information on the Solon Center and related projects, please visit SolonCenter.org, ProtectingAmerica.net, and welcome to Fukurou gallery! --Paul Cornell du Houx, ED
Du Houx, Ramona: - Ramona uses the camera with a painter's eye. She started her technique in 1979, using movement to create a sense of wonder through colors, textures, memories, and the seasons. Everything within the viewfinder becomes visibly interconnected when objects merge with the motion of the camera as the image, the "lightgraph," is taken. "Many Native Americans continue to believe that everything and everyone is connected. It is that interconnectedness that helps to make us whole. Through photography, I have found light expresses that reality in unique ways. I try to bring the beauty and mystery of nature to viewers by amplifying this essence. That mystery can be transformational." Ramona is president and cofounder of the Solon Center for Research and Publishing.
Yorozuya, Yohaku: - Yorozuya Yohaku is an artist with gallery Fukurou. He is renowned for his use of classic darkroom techniques. He's used Ansel Adams' zone system, polarization, solarization, as well as a camera obscura and many other methods over his career. He sometimes develops his images using ocean water, following a tradition of a few of the masters. He is a true craftsman, ensuring that all his techniques are personally applied in the darkroom. Some of his images are prophetic, like the Twin Towers series, which depicts the Towers in the 1980s, when he felt compelled to extensively record them from various perspectives. His images immortalize their memory. Yohaku (aka Takafumi Suzuki) is professor at Nihon University in Tokyo, where for many years he led the Department of Photography at the College of Art. He is the assistant dean and professor at the University of International Fashion in Tokyo, with branches in Osaka and Nagoya. He is a director of the Japan Society for Arts and History of Photography, as well as a member of Kokugakai (Society of Masters of Modern Japanese Art), the Japan Society of Image Arts and Sciences, and the Photographic Society of Japan.
