Veteran traveler's exhibit, tied in with summer reading program, highlights young people in 40 photographs in traditional dress and native settings.
Amy S. Dane, of Longmeadow, with children in New Guinea. Her exhibit, "Cheering for Children: Photos of Kids Worldwide," is on exhibit in the Betty Ann Low meeting room of the Richard Salter Storrs Library in Longmeadow through Aug. 15. Veteran traveler Amy S. Dane’s exhibit’s, “Cheering for Children: Photos of Kids Worldwide,” in the Betty Ann Low meeting room of Richard Salter Storrs Library in Longmeadow, offers an introduction to young people in their natural environments around the globe.
On view through Aug. 15, it coincides with the library’s summer reading program “Dream Big – Read!”
The exhibit, for which there is a public reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on July 17, is designed to promote multicultural understanding, and features 40 photographs of children from 20 different countries and from all backgrounds,
Dane doesn’t call herself a photographer, insisting she is just a “traveler who loves to take pictures.” But her photos are so compelling, they have, over the last year, captured the interest of many local hospitals, libraries and galleries where she has exhibited her work.
In February, she won “Best in Show” at a juried photography exhibit at the Agawam Public Library.
“The show is designed to teach,” Dane said. “It’s a multicultural opportunity, showing that we are all the same, and yet we’re not.”
This photo of girls from Darjeeling, India is included in Dane's exhibit. According to librarian, Heather Marchetta, the photographs support this year’s summer reading theme by encouraging participants to discover where the photos are from, what those children’s lives might be like, and what their dreams might be.
The colorful photographs capture both joy and sorrow and all the things that children are and do. There are pictures of children in traditional dress performing dances and rituals; there are children going about their everyday activities at play, at work, and at school; there are children caring for each other; there are children in rags, and others well-dressed.
“My favorite subject has always been people,” Dane said. “I’ve learned how to ingratiate myself with potential subjects [through] eye contact, a smirk, a gesture or a game of charades.” Establishing trust, she explained, is key to getting a photograph.
The image of this child from Donghat, Yangshou, China is included in Dane's display
But “sometimes, I just plain ‘steal shots’,” she said, “lowering my camera and pretending to take a picture of something else. No matter where I travel. . . it’s the people who never cease to fascinate me.” Dane has traveled at least once a year since she was 13.
“I’m addicted to travel,” she said and, so far, has been to nearly 90 countries. Sometimes her husband, Steven Dane, accompanies her, but most of the time she travels on her own with adventure travel tours.
This photo shows a group of children from a "Sing Sing" in New Guinea.
She uses a simple point and shoot camera and insists she knows very little about photography. But her photos belie that assertion. With an undergraduate degree from Smith College in Northampton, and a master’s degree from Williams College in Williamstown, both in art history, Dane admits her background informs her work.
“As a student of art history, I am fascinated by objects, architecture and interesting sights, but it’s people that I’m particularly drawn to photograph,” she said.
She encourages others to learn what they’re after, to find the photographer in themselves, and the subjects that interest them. Dane grew up in Longmeadow. She is owner of Great Dane Travel and is a docent for the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts at the Quadrangle. She is past education coordinator for the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in South Hadley.
In addition to exhibiting her photographs, Dane gives travel and art appreciation lectures for adults. She may be reached at amysteven@yahoo.com.
Her website is:
amydaneadventures.com
The Richard Salter Storrs Library is located at 693 Longmeadow St. (Route 5), Longmeadow. The library’s website is http://longmeadowlibrary.wordpress.com/.
