‘On The Road’ At C.H. Booth Library

By Nancy K. Crevier

The photography of former Newtown residents Faith and Peter Vicinanza will be exhibited at C.H. Booth Library in the Olga Knoepke Memorial Room on the first floor, Thursday, September 6, through Friday, September 28.

“On The Road” will include print images made during the past 15 years by the Vicinanzas, but the majority of the 45 pieces shown will be gallery quality digital photographs selected from more than 5,000 digital images taken during the couple’s 2005 bicycle trip from Key West, Fla., to St Stephan, Canada. This is only the second time the photography will be exhibited, and the only time this year. The show appeared at Molten Java in Bethel in June 2006.

“My husband and I love the natural environment and have been active for years with a lot of programming that supports the East Coast Greenway and environmental causes. A lot of what we have done has been about advocating the natural environment, so there is a lot of that in our photographs,” said Ms Vicinanza. The print photos depict travel all over the United States, she said, while the digital photos are strictly from the 2,500-mile bicycle trip.

Both of the Vicinanzas are experienced in print photography, but in 2005, digital photography was still a new experience for both of them. “It took several months [following the bike trip] of working with Ken Graff, a professional photographer from Brookfield, to pick out the digital prints that would make good gallery prints,” Ms Vicinanza said.

The different techniques and styles of the two photographers will be apparent to viewers, said Ms Vicinanza. “Peter is very much the technical guy,” Ms Vicinanza said. “He will sit and play with the camera and take ten minutes to do a shot. He’s the scientific side. I’m a shoot, shoot, shoot sort of person. I look at what visually impacts me,” she said. She prefers the extremely closeup pictures.

“I am really a macrophotographer. Peter likes the big scene; there’s a lot going on in his photos,” Ms Vicinanza said.

Ms Vicinanza, an information technologies specialist/information technologies consultant, is not only a photographer, but a widely published poet as well. She is currently working on her fourth book of poetry for publication in 2008, and a memoir about the three months on the road in 2005. She was one of 16 state poets to be nominated for the position of Poet Laureate of the State of Connecticut in 2001 and was the recipient of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Advocates for the Arts Award in 2003.

Mr Vicinanza is a retired information technologies executive and entrepreneur. He has had flash fiction and poetry vignettes published, most recently in Bent Pin Quarterly and Connecticut Review. He is currently writing two memoirs centered on his experiences as a race car driver and rally driver.

Their photography has been exhibited in various campuses and coffee houses in the state.

A reception for Faith and Peter Vicinanza will be held in the Olga Knoepke Memorial Room at C.H. Booth Library on September 9, from 2 to 4 pm.

The exhibit may be viewed during regular library hours. The library is open Monday through Thursday, 10 am to 8 pm; Friday, noon to 5 pm; Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; and Sunday 1 to 5 pm.