Photography
Sara Allen lives and works in her home studio in PA. For the past three years, Sara has been using her camera to explore ways of showing the natural aging of her nude body with its creases, folds, and rough textures and discovering the strangeness and beauty of familiar but unexamined subject matter. Sara shares: “Focusing on parts of my body from different angles and cropping in unexpected ways has forced me and the viewer to look anew at the ordinary subject matter: the neck, the brow, the back, hands and feet, legs and rear end, dark arms next to pale abdomen. I hope the images encourage viewers to look anew at what is beautiful and fascinating about the human body.”
Photography by Nancy Rubin
The project that was recently completed was a truly remarkable endeavor, which showcased the amazing abilities of a group of individuals from a wide variety of ages, ranging from 70 all the way up to 95 years old. These inspiring men and women took part in an incredibly diverse range of physical activities, and the result was a resounding success that left everyone involved feeling thoroughly impressed and awed by their incredible dedication and hard work. Nancy Rubin, the visionary behind this incredible exhibit, was particularly proud of the participants’ efforts and wanted to use this initiative to encourage anyone who feels that they may be too old to be active. She also hoped to show younger generations that, despite their advancing years, these incredible individuals still have plenty of energy and drive – a lesson that proved to be incredibly inspiring to all who saw the results.
To learn more about each of these participants, you can read about them on Nancy’s website at https://www.nancyjrubin.com/.
Welcome to Fairfax City—Past & Now
Photography by Samuel Fountain
Samuel Howard Fountain III is a new media artist who specializes in photography, animation, digital drawing, video editing, audio art, and other art forms. His favorite medium is photography, as it allows him to capture life in the moment. To him, photography helps artists capture the beauty of things that would otherwise go unnoticed. Sam has been passionate about creating animations and digital drawings since the age of nine, producing Lego skits and comics. He still uses traditional drawings as the basis for his animations and digital drawings.
Samuel graduated from George Mason University in Virginia in May 2022, earning a Bachelor’s degree in New Media Art along with a minor in Art History.
Caroline Selby’s photos of “Abandoned Places” are impressive. Her skillful camera work nicely captures the essence of old and fascinating places.
Caroline shares, “Observing nature reclaiming abandoned structures endlessly fascinates me. I like the mystery these places carry. For a moment, I am their storyteller. The colors and textures perfectly contrast each other, from the rust of an old car bumper, bright bold colors of spray paint, to the crumbling bricks of a long-forgotten building, coupled with the bright green of a forest, the white snow, or a beam of sunlight perfectly hitting one spot. These places raise so many questions: Who lived there? Why did they leave? Will these places see life again? They already are. Nature is reclaiming them. How long until these places are forgotten altogether? How long until we are forgotten altogether? Everything we make is finite. When we die, soon after, there is no trace of us left. I want to help people see something they otherwise might have missed, to see the beauty in disrepair.”
Selby’s passion for sharing stories through photography is an inspiration to us all!
“We know that memory plays a huge part in how we make sense of the world. Happy childhood memories feed well-being in adulthood. Early experiences that distill sincere affection and attention are like seeds that nurture psychological health.
People are made of memories. Our mind constantly escapes to that treasure chest containing our past. To those often pleasant thoughts that make sense of our lives and remind us who we were and what brought us to this present day. The childhood series is like a trampoline where dreams can jump and express themselves, as well as help us grow. We know that not all people have enjoyed this privilege. However, having a difficult childhood doesn’t mean that we can’t have a happy adulthood.
Hence the series The childhood Stories intend to put forward some happy memories of Childhood. The figures, objects and lines signify the episodes of some happy Childhood memories that the artist cherish.
Madhavi Joshi is an awarded international artist with over 25 solo shows and more than 100 group exhibitions in wellknown galleries in India and abroad.
She has a unique style depicting spiritual Indian mythological iconography and other special styles like Childhood Series and Abstract series. Her current painting series represents her artistic expression on the sanctity and relevance of numerous vignettes of Indian culture compared to their modern practices.
Artist Madhavi Joshi has shared Childhood Stories through her paintings which are showcasing on mosaicARTs virtual gallery. Madhavi and her family and friends were participating in an interactive Migration project by artist Van H N at the onsite opening reception on May 13th, 2023.
Michael Paras is a photographer and a videographer. His photographs always tell a story and create energy.
“Not everything looks like what it appears at first glance – I want my images to resonate with an immediate emotional pull bringing in the viewer. Tolstoy observed that any art, in order to actually be art, must, above all be infectious. A work must create an immediate visceral response, an electric sense of recognition that is instantaneous whether or not that recognition is immediately understood,” Michael shared.
Michael has been a photographer for over 30 years for an impressively eclectic group of higher education, advertising, corporate, pharmaceutical, and editorial clients. He brings to his shoots love and passion for photography.
Michele uses the abstract language of bold color, varying texture, amorphic shape, and line to explore the richness of the visceral landscape. Her work is experimentation, exploration, release, and renewal. It is a continuous play of bringing that which is ineffable into some kind of material form. Michele de la Menardiere is an abstract painter based in San Francisco, California. Her paintings are part of various private and public collections and she is part of the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies Program. She is a graduate of Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, England.
The NCOA Gallery is pleased to present the new photography series Caregiving—Aging Well for All. The National Council on Aging invited photographers and visual artists to share their stories of older adults in community and caregivers who have been caring for their aging loved one. We provide a platform for artistic expression in order to foster a dialogue and drive innovation in the photographic arts to encourage everyone to care for those who once cared for us, as we believe caregiving for older adults is one of the highest honors.
The exhibition includes the top 20 awarded photos and hundreds of emotional images of caregivers and their loved ones. Part of this exhibition is exploring the inescapable bonds between caregivers and their older loved ones. Some images evoke intense feelings. The exhibition presents many distinguished photographers and artists who document older adults and caregivers; spending time with each other. The experiences are both unique and universally human.
The photographers ask us “to look at stereotypes about aging with challenges, about who the caregivers are, and about the typical relationship between a companion and someone who needs help.” As we age, we are more aware and take close notice of the generations ahead of us. Finding empathy is the key to maintaining a good relationship and communicating with older adults. Caregiving requires understanding, focus and intentional support. Caring is momentous.
Supporting caregivers matters—we are working together to empower caregivers and their loved ones—so all can experience aging well. At NCOA, our vision is a just and caring society in which each of us, as we age, lives with dignity, purpose, and security. We believe aging well is something every person deserves—regardless of gender, color, sexuality, income, or zip code.
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Traveling Exhibitions:
@ NCOA virtual gallery and @ mosaicARTs virtual gallery
from June 2022—June 2023
Curated by Van Hong Nguyen @ mosaicARTs
