EVANESCENT
By Artist Leigh Svenson
On Exhibit: Friday, October 1st to November 30th
EVANESCENT: ev.a.nes.cent (adjective) Soon passing out of sight, memory or existence; the quality of being fleeting. From driftwood cathedrals being taken by the sea – to mercurial dune grass etchings and ebb tide carvings, these fleeting images I have captured during vacations at the Golden Isles of Georgia.
For the past five years, specifically St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island, I lugged along my big Bronica GS-1 medium format (6X7) film camera for treks to the beach. Usually I would get entranced with potential images and start to photograph while my wife looked for shells down the beach. Capturing the passage of time, both ephemeral and enduring, has long been of interest to me. It is my hope that you will study these photographs and those qualities will be revealed to you. -Leigh Svenson, Weaverville, NC
About the Artist: Leigh R. Svenson
Mr. Svenson lived most of his childhood in Rhode Island and teen years in New Jersey. In 1968 he received a B.A. from New York University where he studied Art History and Biology. He worked in commercial photography for several years in the city before moving to Amherst, Ma where he attended graduate school at the University of Massachusetts. He became a member of professional staff as the administrator of the Media Services Department at the recently opened Hampshire College in Amherst. He also became a Faculty Associate in the School of Communication and Cognitive Sciences teaching field and studio television production classes. After nearly twenty years he departed to the Northwest where he worked in various television and photography businesses for several years. Ultimately he moved back to the east coast to Asheville, North Carolina where he became a staff member of the Educational Technology Department at UNC Asheville. He served as the Auditoria Manager (Lipinsky and Humanities Lecture Hall) for seventeen years. Soon he will have been retired from UNCA for ten years.
Mr. Svenson was an avid badminton player and was nationally ranked. He was a perennial medalist at the North Carolina Senior Games as a doubles specialist.
As a lifelong photographer he continues to work in his darkroom at home. He has participated in solo and group exhibits in the greater Asheville area. His work is in private collections. Svenson lives in Weaverville with his wife Barb, two cats and two dogs.
Mr. Svenson dedicates this exhibit to the memory of Bob Walther, a friend and photographer who died earlier this year. Bob’s enduring optimism and irrepressible humor will be remembered by all who knew him.
