a non-profit gallery for the visual and performing arts

2833-A Hathaway Rd., Richmond, VA 23225
in the Stratford Hills Shopping Center

Gallery hours beginning Saturday, January 22, 2022:
Noon to 4pm, Tuesday - Sunday
Free and Open to the Public
Purchase artwork from our online store

Seeing Double - VMFA
Altered Photography
$165.00

Artist Statement

"I came to photography fairly recently, later in life, in the digital age. After several years of shooting and editing, two tenets/concepts have evolved that guide me in shaping my images:

1. Photographer as Thief. This came from mentors who suggested not photographing things like statues, murals – other people’s art – and taking credit for them. I think that a photograph can be just a stolen image, a moment in time recorded on a memory chip.

2. How will my image be any different than the person shooting next to me? This developed on shoots with fellow camera club members. I want the image to be mine, not just like someone else’s. That has led me to more and more editing, shaping the image to be what I want it to be. I often think of myself more as a post-processor than a photographer.

At times, I know what the final image will be when I shoot. Other times, I feel more like a sculptor looking at a block of stone or a carver examining a piece of wood, determining what lurks in the raw material.

This image "Seeing Double – VMFA" was shaped by both of my tenets. It started as a nice snapshot of the grounds and statue at the Virginia Museum – a moment stolen in time. But I could not just steal that image. I had to make it my own. I saw its potential in the lines & curves and light & shadows that ultimately led to this mirror image."

Website: anitastorino.smugmug.com