Deborah Pinter’s flower series photographs on view in Peninsula

Published on September 26, 2012 by in Akron

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Take in photographer Deborah Pinter’s flower series exhibit, called “Luminous Florals,” and combine a nice fall outing with a satisfying art experience. Pinter’s flower studies are on view at the Hines Hill campus (the administration building) in the John F. Seiberling Gallery near the Boston Store in Peninsula district.

What looks to be an old farmstead – outbuildings and all – is laid out for a leisurely walk. The grounds of this campus of the Conservancy for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park are broad flat gardens and lawns with winding paths that lead to the central administrative building and the gallery space. It’s a great place for the stroll on a cool, clear autumn day. Take in the area, but leave time to see the floral images by Pinter.

Hines Hill campus, Cuyahoga National Park.

The John F. Seiberling Gallery (named for the Congressional representative who helped establish the national park) is essentially laid out in a tau cross configuration – that is, a long narrow hallway with images on both sides headed by a cross hallway with Pinter’s shimmering photos all around. Go to the restroom if you want to see them all, for there is at least one image on display there. Nothing wrong with that.

As a contemporary photographer of botanicals, Pinter has been described as a 21st-century innovator of 18th century tradition in paying close attention to the natural world and recording it in lush detail. The artist scans her images, then uses computer software to manipulate the image before outputting the results onto lustrous polymer sheets. In the case of this exhibit, she prints her photos onto archival silver Mylar paper, which give them a similar aspect of Victorian-age cyanotypes.

Close up of “Flower” by Deborah Pinter.

In Pinter’s case, though, she keeps her color palette both sharp and simple – basic white, red and green flowers against dark backgrounds. She captures the flowers in tight, detail-rendering focus, while giving them the sense of being brushed by intense light that makes them seem strangely abstract.

Close-up of “Flower” by Deborah Pinter.

Pinter doesn’t give individual, illustrative or explanatory titles to her work. They are, if anything, simply called “Flower” and given a number. That makes sense. Most images are small (around 5″x5″), places on stark white matting and places in plain black frames.

Deborah Pinter’s “Luminous Florals” are on display through November 16 in the John F. Seiberling Gallery in the Hines Hill campus administration building, 1403 Hines Hill Rd., Peninsula; 330-657-2909, ext. 109; www.conservancyforcvnp.org. Hours are Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., or by appointment on weekends. Admission is free.

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