From store photo department to gallery exhibit

When artist Jan Chamberlain decided to visit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on vacation in February, she never intended to come back with photographs for a gallery show, but now her vacation photos are on display at the Schock Community Arts Center.

The "Bullfight" exhibit, made up of 50 photos taken at a bullfight Chamberlain attended, is on display for the rest of the month at Schock Community Arts Center at 116 E. Hickory in Scott City.

"I just wanted to photograph things I never photographed before," she said. "I just documented the bullfight. I didn't know what kind of pictures I'd get."

Chamberlain took all the photos with a point-and-shoot camera and without the aid of expensive, professional equipment.

When she returned to Cape Girardeau, Chamberlain took the photos to Wal-Mart and used Kodak Picture Maker to zoom, crop and, most importantly, adjust the colors in the prints.

"I punched a lot of color into the pictures, and I tried to make the color very consistent," she said. "I like the contrast and I like the intense colors in this."

A former part-time Scott City art teacher, Chamberlain has had her work exhibited in more than 50 national and international jurored shows.

The "Bullfight" exhibit is the first one she has had in 14 years.

It was at the suggestion of her son and a chance meeting with Carolyn Pendergrass, president of the Scott City Historical Preservation Committee, that led to the exhibit at the Schock Community Arts Center.

"It was fun," she said of having her work exhibited again. Chamberlain said she is now free of the pressures that younger people feel when exhibiting art.

She considers the exhibit to be an art show, not a photography show, because the attention is not focused on the quality of the prints.

The exhibit also demonstrates that people don't need expensive equipment to create art, Chamberlain said. They can "go somewhere with just a point-and-shoot camera."

kalfisi@semissourian.com

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