Polaroid to Pixel
Reeves-Reed Announces Fall Photography Exhibit
Summit, NJ….Reeves-Reed Arboretum announces the opening of Polaroid to Pixel: A Retrospective of the Photography of the late Anne Ross. This special exhibition is displayed in the Wisner House of the Arboretum, 165 Hobart Avenue, Summit, NJ from October 3 through November 25, 2011 from 9 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Friday. Recommended admission is $5 for adults and Free for Reeves-Reed Arboretum Members.
Through a Class at Smith College in 1955 Anne was introduced to Photography with the, then experimental, Polaroid Camera. This began her lifelong journey into all aspects of photographic art.
Anne started at the Polaroid Corporation in Boston and travelled along with all the exciting technological changes in cameras, film, papers, and finally computers. All these developments challenged her creative artistic instincts. Anne honed her talents whenever she had the opportunity, and especially at the Reeves Reed Arboretum in Summit, New Jersey and elsewhere during her travels across the United States and abroad. Her award winning photographs are included in numerous private and corporate collections. She has been included in numerous gallery and museum exhibitions, including an exhibition at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
The exhibition is organized in three sections and in many ways chronicles the rapid technology changes that occurred in photography in the latter decades of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. The first section introduces viewers to Anne’s work and experimentation with the images produced using a Polaroid camera and then into her stunning black and white photographs. This selection of images includes candid portraits that allow the viewer into the personalities of her subjects, as well as landscapes and interiors. The play of light is particularly important to the mood evoked by many of her black and white photographs.
The second, and largest section, is of her beloved Reeves-Reed Arboretum. For more than three decades she captured the Arboretum in every season. This section is divided by season and includes black and white photographs, CIBA chrome, and some of her first forays into digital photography.
The final section continues the journey by exploring Anne’s other areas of interest: sailing, the coast of Maine, a travel, her Americana series, and digitally enhanced images. Probably the most evocative of all of the pieces in the exhibition are the Dreamscapes. These digitally enhanced photographs of a stark white bed chamber take the viewer on a different kind of journey which explores the quiet realm of the subconscious.
The exhibition was organized by Anne’s husband, George, and sons, George Ross, Jr. and Tom and the Arboretum’s Executive Director Gayle Petty-Johnson. The more than 100 photographs displayed are from the Reeves-Reed Arboretum’s own collection, the family, Lu and Carl Rose, and Betse and Frank Gump.
“This retrospective of Anne Ross’ work gives viewers the opportunity to take a trip with Anne and enjoy selected examples of her unique and beautiful images. We are pleased to have worked with the Arboretum to make this exhibition a reality and tribute to Anne”, stated her husband George Ross.
Reeves-Reed Arboretum is the only public garden and one of the largest green spaces in the City of Summit. It is the only arboretum in Union County. The Arboretum seeks to engage, educate and enrich its visitors so they may become better stewards of nature and the environment. This mission is achieved through the care and utilization of an historic estate and gardens. Reeves-Reed Arboretum is listed on both the National and New Jersey Historic Registries. For more information, please visit the website at www.reeves-reedarboretum.org.
