Featured General Member Gallery
Archive 11 - July-September 2002

  GLORIA GOLDEN   


Artist Statement and Bio

My introduction to photography began seven years ago as I studied with Jules Allen at Queensborough Community College. Although I originally painted with oils, the camera presented me with a more natural art form. Study continued at the International Center for Photography, Maine Workshops, Woodstock Workshops, and Santa Fe Workshops.

My interest in traveling to many parts of the world offered an opportunity to photograph the unusual and the exotic. The camera enabled me to bring all that I loved home with me. However, it’s my attraction to people and an ability to connect with strangers that offers me the greatest satisfaction. I reach into their souls with the camera and feel as though I have known them forever. It always seems easier to relate to strangers than to individuals who have been part of my life for so long. Perhaps it’s because they don’t expect anything. I feel so free reaching out to the unknown, much like an adventure.

Many images have been selected for juried exhibits, and I have won special recognition for several of them. Solo exhibits and slide presentations on specific themes have also developed from my photography.

The Djemaa-el-Fna Square at Marrakesh, Morocco, was for centuries the place where snake charmers performed their unusual skills. It is a place that draws you into another world where one is removed from the safety of the western world and the security it brings. The fear and challenge of discovery is quite exciting and stimulating.

Cityscape was created out of my love for New York. The buildings sort of envelop you, protecting you as in a mother’s womb. Sure there are uncertainties and fears, but they exist in the place that I know, where I was born and matured.

Looking forward to future travels, my camera is ready to move on and photograph new images that might be awaiting me.

Awards

1998 First Place in Portraiture, Prince George Community College
1999 Best Picture in Show, Award of Excellence, Smithtown Township Arts Council
1999 Honorable Mention, Photography 99, Nexus Gallery, New York, New York
2000 First Place, Black and White, Long Island Arts Council at Freeport

Archive Collection
New Mexico Jewish Historical Society, Santa Fe, New Mexico

E-mail: bgdr529@aol.com

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