A vibrant orange sky is the backdrop for a burning sun as it sets on the horizon of the Oregon coast. A black silhouetted forest envelops the foreground as the dusk horizon of the Pacific Ocean peaks out from behind the trees.
These are just two of the images on display at the Knight Law Center as part of the photography exhibit “Sanctuaries” by Scott Blackman.
Blackman’s work caught the eye of law professor Dominick Vetri when he was visiting the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, where Blackman’s photos were on display.
“There were just stunning, exquisite photos of mostly coastal landscapes. He’s terrific with sunrises and sunsets,” Vetri said. “I’m always on the lookout for the next exhibit, or exhibits down the line.”
Vetri, who has been at the University 42 years and was involved in the committee that designed the building, began the idea of showcasing exhibits in the law school. He was frustrated by its bland interior and has brought about two exhibits a year to the white walls since spring 2005. “Those walls were vacant and blank, and that’s the way they were for like 5 years,” he said. “One day it just got into my head that, ‘What if we could have art displays here?’”
In addition to his job as a professor, Vetri took on the work of mediating between artists and the University. “I do it out of pleasure and desire to make the law school a more welcoming place,” he said. “Adding the artwork to the walls just makes this place so amazingly different. Being able to make these arrangements has transformed this place into a much more enjoyable place, greater for the students. It’s a much more congenial place to be.”
And so, on display now through Dec. 14 is a collection of 26 photographs by Blackman, showcasing Oregon’s coast and desert. He named the exhibit “Sanctuaries” because for him that is the meaning of the places captured in his photographs. “It’s sanctuary as a refuge,” he said. “Relaxing and exciting at the same time — mental sanctuaries. You’re not out in nature, you’re standing in a hall. But its hope is to achieve that.”
Blackman, 71, is a well-known coastal photographer whose work includes lighthouses, shorelines, forestry and bridges, in addition to Utah’s red rock country. He first got into photography in his late-20s while surfing on the Oregon coast, taking pictures of other surfers. He grew serious about it, living on little money and moving around Oregon taking pictures of its lush nature landscapes. “I always had a bit of an artist in me,” he said. “I started taking nature pictures and I got a boost from my friends who thought my pictures were quite good. That helped me to keep doing it.”
Working with film through the late ’80s, Blackman took a break from photography for close to 15 years. “I just felt kind of burnt out. There wasn’t anything more I could do. It got to be kind of boring,” he said.
Then, in 2002, Blackman married a woman whose kids shortly thereafter turned him on to the art of digital photography. “Her son had a digital camera, so I started messing around with it,” he said. “I instantly realized it was more hands-on, especially with Photoshop.”
Blackman had never worked in the dark room, where film photography is manipulated. Now, his love for photography is revived and he has a newfound appreciation for the creation process.
“I’m just loving it. It’s a way to follow your images from when you create them to when you’re printing them,” he said. “It allows me to use my own standards to create what I like to create.”
Blackman, a lifelong resident of Lincoln County, now lives in Toledo, Ore. with his wife Sandy. The two run their business, Shamana Arts, which showcases Scott’s photography and Sandy’s mixed media crafts, which include purses and buttons. “I used to say she does 70 percent of the work, it’s more like 80 percent,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“I just do whatever needs to be done. Inventory, permits, taxes, bookkeeping, whatever,” Sandy said. She helps put Scott’s artwork on new media such as reusable bags and tiles (one of the pieces is displayed this way at the law school) and secures his inclusion in the Lake Oswego phone book while at the same time creating and selling her own wearable art.
She also enjoys accompanying Scott on his photographing excursions. “I feel like Scott’s a real documentation of the environment,” Sandy said. They both enjoy the outdoors, and take the opportunity to exercise and to enjoy their natural surroundings.
“That’s why I photograph nature so well, I think,” Scott said. “It’s so rewarding for me to be out there.”
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Capturing nature’s ‘Sanctuaries’
Daily Emerald
August 22, 2009
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