'Of Our Time and Place'

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“Greensprings Sunset” (top) and other landscapes by Sean Bagshaw are part of the regional photography exhibit at the Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford. A series of photographs of Lone Grave Butte (right) by John Wimberly shows American Indian petrogylphs. Kate Geary’s “Emigrant Lake” (bottom) captures an empty dock and reflections of clouds on the water on a windless day.

What is the essence of Southern Oregon and Northern California? How does an artist convey the distinct beauty and character of this region ringed by mountains?

"Of Our Time and Place," an invitational photography exhibit at Medford's Rogue Gallery & Art Center, presents the work of 16 local photo-graphers asked to express their vision of the region. The exhibit runs from Friday, Aug. 21, through Sept. 26, with an opening reception 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 21.

"The essence of our area is one of incredible beauty that is significantly varied, within the valley, and from season to season," says photographer Kate Geary — whose image of an empty dock on Emigrant Lake imparts a sense of profound silence.

"The clouds and their reflections on the lake were just incredible," recalls Geary. "When I took this one it felt special . . . it took on a surreal quality. It looks like the dock to nowhere."

Geary's work is one of 40 striking photographs in the juried show. Images of nature dominate the exhibit: wide skies rich with clouds, sentinel rocks in a sea of sagebrush, the broad dry hills that encompass the valley.

"To me," says Ashland photographer Sean Bagshaw, "the essence is landscapes; defining moments in nature where things come together in space and time with light and color. I photograph on the edges of day and night, a magical time. The light then can be extraordinary."

The light is extraordinary in Bagshaw's photograph titled "Greensprings Sunset." The setting sun illuminates a carpet of purple vetch and oak-covered hills roll down to the valley floor.

"People living here identify with the shape of the hills," says Bagshaw. "You can't go anywhere without seeing them. I felt the need to get up in the hills."

In Jim Chamberlain's "Prospect Falls," a small cascade of water pours over undulating rocks. Their concave and convex surfaces mimic the abstract figurative sculpture of English artist Henry Moore.

"What you see is centuries of rocks tumbled against rocks, carving out real organic forms," says Chamberlain. "Out of the thousands of photographs I've created, this is one of a handful that I'm really glad I took."

John Wimberley has spent the last decade focusing on American Indian rock art. Alone for days at a time on the edge of the Great Basin, he photographs petroglyphs named for geologic features like "Lone Grave Butte."

"Petroglyphs are often incredibly beautiful," says Wimberley. "In themselves, they are a high level of art. . . They are extremely exciting visually and their location is very exciting. Their relationship to the surrounding landscape is very important.

"The essence of this area included the people who lived here for thousands of years and who are now invisible and largely forgotten," says Wimberley. Wimberley's photographs, like others in the exhibit, suggest the passage and presence of humans without showing people themselves. Rock art gives way to weathered barns, broken fence posts, a lifetime's collection of junk in a yard. The valley's agricultural heritage is seen in round, ribbed bales of hay, in rusted smudge pots and neat orchard rows, and in the stark lines and curves of irrigation pipes and wheels.

Other artists who will exhibit their work include Barbara Bruckman, John Bruckman, R.C. Davidson, David Gibb, Tom Glassman, Claudia Harlow, Geri Mathewson, Bobbi Murphy, Brian Prechtel, April L. Whitten, David Lorenz Winston and Julie Young.

"Of Our Time and Place" is a photographic tribute to the beauty of the region and a visual record of the human imprint on the land.

Katherine Hannon is a freelance writer living in Medford.

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