Photo show opening reception Sat., Jun. 8, at Gallery at Still River Editions in Danbury

The Gallery at Still River Editions
128 East Liberty St., Danbury, (203) 791-1474
Nearly Forgotten: Photographs by Catherine Vanaria
Jun. 8—Sept. 27, 2013.
Special CT Open House Day and Opening Reception: Sat., Jun. 8, Noon—5 p.m.

Press release from The Gallery at Still River Editions

Catherine Vanaria: "Top Hat"

Nearly Forgotten is a solo exhibition of black and white photographs by Catherine Vanaria. Catherine Vanaria has been photographing hats in the collection of the Danbury Museum and Historical Society since 2011. Vanaria's hat photographs are softly focused, and are carbon pigment printed on rice paper, making them look solid, but ethereal. The hats serve not just as artifacts, but as documents of the eras from which they originated. Their value is reinforced by being photographed. In addition to her original photography, she has also curated a selection of "salvaged" photographs of hats that tie into her own.

Catherine Vanaria, who is a resident of New Fairfield, CT is an Assistant Professor of Photography at Western Connecticut State University. She has been a fine art photographer and professional photographic printmaker for over 30 years. She is co-owner of Connecticut Photographics. Her first book, The Boston Years: The Music Scene in Photos, was published in 2008 by Laughing Camera Press, Danbury, CT. She received an M.F.A. in Visual Arts from the Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA in January 2012.

The opening reception is part of Connecticut's statewide Open House Day. There will be refreshments and the gallery will be open from noon—5 p.m. The photographer will be giving an artist's talk at 3 p.m.

Artist's Statement:

We are all collectors. We have albums and shoeboxes of stuff that we’ve removed from our shelves and put into storage for safekeeping. But something happens when things are removed from our sight. Connections to memories kept under cover get diffused and are slowly forgotten.

For the past three years, I’ve been exploring Danbury’s history through the archives of the Danbury Museum and local tag and estate sales to build my own understanding of the lost stories of this area. I’m creating my own historical archive by collecting and photographing objects found at these locations that might otherwise be destined for the trash bin.

This on-going photographic project ebbs and flows with each new discovery. I am attempting to bring both the past and present day histories together to comment on our changing country, bringing forth the old stories that have settled this community to question its future.