Multicultural Portrait Photography at Elms College.
CHICOPEE - "Young and Old Across the Globe: Multicultural Portrait Photography" by Amy S. Dane, of Longmeadow, will be on view in Borgia Gallery at Elms College from Sept. 1 through 28.
The public is invited to an artist's reception on Sept. 12 from 4 to 6 p.m.
A global photographer, lecturer and travel agent, Dane has visited 95 countries since her first trip abroad in 1972
A graduate of Smith College in Northampton with a bachelor's degree in art history, Dane also holds master of arts degree in that subject from Williams College in Williamstown.
She has said that her photography reflects the fact that it is "the people who never cease to fascinate" her on her travels.
This photo, taken in the Toltuchka Oriental Bazaar, Turkmenistan, is part of the exhibit, "Young and Old Across the Globe: Multicultural Portrait Photography," by Amy S. Dane in Borgia Gallery at Elms College in Chicopee. Geri Brunell, associate professor of fine arts and curator of the Borgia Gallery, had originally asked Dane to exhibit some of her portraits taken on a journey across the Silk Road, the 4,000-mile ancient international trade route that linked China to the West.
The curator also liked Dane's portraits of children, taken on different continents, so the resultant exhibit focuses on portraits of young and old, across the globe, with an emphasis on the Silk Road.
Dane's Silk Road journey began in Almaty, Kazakhstan, backtracked through the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China, continued through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and, finally, Turkmenistan. The photographer found her subjects in local bazaars, markets and Madrassas, often flashing smiles full of gold teeth.
"Each face has a story to tell," Dane said in a release.
Dane exhibits her photography at libraries, hospitals and galleries. Her entry won "Best in Show" in February 2012 at the Friends of the Agawam Public Library 2nd Open Juried Photography Show. Dane won second place in photography at the Monson Arts Council's 2013 art show. She was honored in June, 2013 as one of "13 Extraordinary Women" by the Women's Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts.
A docent for the Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, Dane served as education coordinator at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in South Hadley for 11 years.
For more information, visit website at www.amydaneadventures.com. Dane can be reached at amy@amydaneadventures.com.
The Borgia Gallery is located on the second floor of the Mary Dooley College Center at Elms College, 291 Springfield St. The gallery is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.. Visitors can park in the lot on the corner of Fairview and Springfield Street. For more information, call (413) 594-2761.