ENTERTAINMENT

Gallery showcases photos by staffers, students

Bill Nutt
Correspondent
  • “All Together Now” is an exhibition of about 60 photographs displayed at 70 South Gallery in Morristown.
  • Most of the pieces were taken by employees of the gallery, which doubles as a photography service center. The exhibit also includes the work of Casper Dehnavi, a senior at Glen Ridge High School, in keeping with gallery owner Ted Baldanzi’s mission of always featuring student artists.
  • The photographs reflect a variety of subject matter, techniques and treatments, and materials, as well as various types of framing and matting.
The combination of embroidered images and photographs is one of the trademarks of the work of Casper Dehnavi, a senior at Glen Ridge High School. This image is one of several by Dehnavi featured in “All Together Now.”

Casper Dehnavi is aiming for the stars, in more than one sense of the word.

A senior at Glen Ridge High School, Dehnavi will major in astrophysics at Harvard. But she also hopes to make a stellar impact in the world of photography.

Dehnavi’s embroiders shapes and figures directly on the photographs she takes. The result: a combination of two crafts to create something new.

“Embroidery is a way for me to add another dimension of texture and another step in the process of rendering a piece to bring it further into the realm of ‘object,’ ” Dehnavi wrote in an email.

“I decided to embroider photos because analog printing led me to think about whether my pieces were two-dimensional, purely visual images or objects that I had created,” she added.

Some examples of Dehnavi’s embroidered photographs are featured in “All Together Now,” an exhibition on display through March 25 at 70 South Gallery in Morristown.

Her work is being displayed alongside about 60 other pictures taken by staffers at 70 South Gallery, which offers a full array of photography services in addition to exhibition space.

“This is my first time showing work in a gallery, so I’m proud to have reached that milestone with my photography,” wrote Dehnavi, who plans to minor in photography at Harvard.

“I’m also really happy to be associated with a gallery that chooses to showcase student work, and helps students print and frame our photos,” she added.

All the photographs in “All Together Now” reflect a wide range of subject matter, photographic techniques, materials, matting and framing.

Providing a showcase for photographers to display their work was one of the goals of owner Ted Baldanzi for 70 South Gallery in Morristown. He is with gallery curator Gina Cerbone in front of images by photographer Ellen Denuto.

What unites these pieces is a passion for the art of photography, according to Ted Baldanzi of Morristown, owner of 70 South Gallery.

“All the people who work at our gallery are interested in photography,” said Baldanzi, who opened his gallery in October 2014 at the site of the former Sandrian Camera Shop. “This is our staff coming together.”

The inclusion of a student photographer is important to Baldanzi.

“From the beginning, I wanted to make sure we had a student included in every exhibit,” he said. “They’re talented, and they deserve to have their work shown.”

That sentiment is echoed by Gina Cerbone of White Township, curator of 70 South Gallery.

“Ted was adamant about including student photography,” said Cerbone. “Some of these students are really creative with multimedia.” She cited Dehnavi’s embroidered photographs as one example of such innovation.

Cerbone also described the work of Adam Kosecki, a 2015 graduate of Delbarton High School, who removes sections of his photographs and replaces them with handmade drawings.

“Some of these students have only been doing photography for a couple of years, and it’s amazing to see how far they’ve come,” Cerbone said.

Intense closeups of stems and leaves are taken by Gina Cerbone, curator of 70 South Gallery in Morristown.

Cerbone is represented in “All Together Now” by dramatic closeups of stems and leaves (not the blossoms) of plants.

“I like doing my photography in the studio,” Cerbone said. “I like working in the quiet of the darkroom, when you can work with filters, when you control how long you keep a print in the developer, and other things.”

“This exhibit is about what (she and the other staffers) do outside of the gallery,” Cerbone said. “It’s not just about giving you your developed pictures. We’re passionate about this, too.”

Bringing adults such as Cerbone with students such as Dehnavi and Kosecki was one of Baldanzi’s goals in opening 70 South Gallery.

“Originally, I wanted to call the space ‘Generations,’ ” Baldanzi said. “Photography is the way things are passed on from one generation to the next.”

“I still have my grandparents’ photographs from Italy in the 1880s,” he added. “I have my parents’ photographs from the early 1900s.”

But Baldanzi said that he frets that photography does not receive its due.

“In the old days, you used to take a roll of film to be developed,” he said. “You’d get back 24 to 36 pictures, and then you’d put them in a box that gets thrown away after you die.”

That neglect continues in the digital era, according to Baldanzi. “People have thousands of pictures on their phones. They share them once with friends and then forget about them. The photos don’t get printed, and they’re lost once the technology changes.”

The opening of 70 South Gallery came about because of Baldanzi’s interest in photography.

His own background is in business. Among other endeavors, he has been involved in chemical distribution, computers and marketing.

But on the side, he enjoyed photography, and he would frequent Sandrian Camera Shop in Morristown.

“I was always developing film there, and I always thought it would be a great space for a gallery,” Baldanzi said.

In 2014, Baldanzi learned that Sandrian Camera Shop was going to close its doors.

“I spoke with Peter Sandrian about the possibility of keeping it going, with the same staff,” Baldanzi said.

In October 2014, 70 South Gallery opened. In that time, the gallery has hosted 10 exhibitions in New Jersey.

“All Together Now” spotlights photographs taken by the gallery employees, such as this one by gallery director Ira L. Black.

Student outreach has been a priority, according to Ira L. Black of Morristown, gallery director.

In the past year, Black has arranged for displays of work by students from high schools in Morristown, Montclair, Bloomfield, Bernards and Glen Ridge, as well as Pingry School, Delbarton, Oak Knolls and Newark Academy.

“I listen to students, and it’s amazing to have conversations with them about what they’re doing,” Black said. “They’re so creative and so innovative. It’s hard not to be inspired.”

Black, like Cerbone, is represented in the “All Together Now” exhibit. Some of his pieces are photographs of snow monkeys, while others are photos of trees that are almost abstract.

“I love working with film,” Black said. “It’s something you can see, and touch, and feel.”

Baldanzi, Black, and Cerbone said they have hopes that the past year has only been a prologue for 70 South Gallery.

For example, the gallery will sponsor off-site exhibitions. One such exhibit already took place in December in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.

Since late 2014, Black has been moderating a series called “The Informal Lens,” which he compared to the TV program “Inside the Actors Studio,” in which artists discuss their work.

“We’re making strides to be part of the community,” Black said. “We want this to be a destination for people to come to and be inspired.”

In addition, Baldanzi said that he would like to launch a program tentative called 70 South Photo U., which would offer photography classes for the general public.

“We’re trying to be diverse in what we offer,” Baldanzi said. “The main thing is that I want people to take their photographs and realize they can pass them on.”

ALL TOGETHER NOW

WHEN: Through March 25

WHERE: 70 South Gallery, 70 South St., Morristown

ADMISSION: Free

INFO: 973-539-2112 or www.70southgallery.com