"November Full Moon Rising, Port Norris" ~ Rachel Cobb

"Bee on Apple Blossom" ~ Sam Feinstein

Left: "July" ~ Brian Gerber / Right: "Arch" ~ Jason Matthew Grover

Through our eyes:
A photographic vision

"Through Our Eyes: A Photographic Vision" is a collection of photographs by five talented photographers.

STAN BENNETT, a veteran and lifetime Bridgeton resident who is also twice winner of the Photographic Society of Vineland’s “Photographer of The Year” award, will be one of five distinguished, local photographers featured in this month’s show at Gallery 50 in Bridgeton. Combining inspired color photography with evocative digital enhancement, Bennett’s photographs achieve a richly imaginative vision of local landscape and nature subjects. His passion for digital photography emerged after he retired in 2001 from a 40-year career in advertising design.

RACHEL COBB, a Cumberland County native, lived and worked as a freelance graphic designer in New York City before moving back home to her family farm. Her photography reveals a passion for nature’s simplicity and sheer magnificence. “I want to capture a moment in time and share the beauty that I see with others,” says Cobb. She has designed and photographed for a variety of garden-based publications and organizations, including The American Ivy Society, Quail Botanical Gardens, San Diego Horticultural Society, CA Garden Magazine, and the San Diego Floral Association.

SAM FEINSTEIN describes himself as influenced and encouraged by his father, who gave him his first camera, a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, in 1958. “I’ve been growing ever since,” he says, having made the move into digital photography over six years ago. “I wouldn’t claim that I never looked back, because I try to blend the newest digital and computer technology with my love for the classic look of film images.” In fact, Feinstein’s latest digital photographs will be seen alongside images made on film nearly forty years ago. “I strive to maintain the ‘realism’ of film in my photography,” he says. “I think you’ll find it hard to distinguish the two.”

BRIAN W. GERBER, a member of the Salem County Art League who has previously exhibited at Gallery 50, admits that he fell in love with the camera in an introductory photography course at Gloucester Co. College. His continued studies have earned him three certificates from the New York Institute of Photography. While his captivating scenic and nature images are the main focus of his work, Gerber also enjoys taking photos of his three-year-old son.

The engaging photography of JASON MATTHEW GROVER concentrates on the human interest side. Jason is a photographer for Su Voz, a Spanish weekly newspaper, as well as a freelance photo artist. Introduced to silver printing, which he studied at Camden County College, Grover quickly moved into digital photography after leaving school. He enjoys taking pictures of “a look, a feeling or an event, something that will never happen again” and capturing that point in time so it lives on past the original moment. Mr. Grover resides in Vineland with his wife and son.