Sunriver Resort Lodge Betty Gray Gallery presents Photography of the High Desert Region featuring photographers representing the Oregon Natural Desert Association and Bend photographer Dave Kamperman. Participating artists will attend a public reception in their honor on Friday, November 21 from 5–7pm in the upper gallery. The exhibition continues through January 4, 2015.
Over a decade ago, photographers dedicated to capturing the beauty of the high desert region conceived of an annual collection of photographic images celebrating the little known area. The concept inspired the Oregon Natural Desert Association’s Wild Desert Calendar, now in its 11th year.
Renowned for showcasing the beauty of the high desert of central and eastern Oregon, the calendar debuts this year at the Sunriver Lodge gallery with some 20 images by Greg Burke, Jim Davis, Tyson Fisher and Christof Teuscher. The calendar is also available for purchase at Costco in Bend and Powell Books in Portland.
Greg Burke (www.pbase.com/gbphoto) and Jim Davis (http://desertdustimages.blogspot.com), both of Bend, are dedicated photographers who were part of the team that originated the calendar. The quality of their work attracted other artists to participate over the years including Tyson Fisher (www.tysonfisher.com), a professional artist based in Silverton, Oregon, and Christof Teuscher, who records his passion for the high desert in photos (www.teuscher.ch/ristof/) when not working as assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Portland State University.
Founded more than 25 years ago, the Oregon Natural Desert Association is a Bend-based nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the state’s high desert. Its focus includes the Central Oregon Backcountry, the John Day River Basin, the Greater Hart-Sheldon Region and the Owyhee Canyonlands.
Also exhibiting is photographer Dave Kamperman in the lower gallery. He notes that Oregon’s scenery displays a diverse and remarkable beauty that he strives to preserve for future generations.
He uses large format film which he feels surpasses most digital imagery in clarity, natural color saturation, and resolution.
He recently added photos printed on metal to his presentation. The artist’s Sunriver feature includes a metal print of Bear Grass taken from Coffin Mountain with sunrise over Mt. Jefferson. Another metal print features Mt. Bachelor with the first significant snowfall of ’14 shown behind the rich fall foliage of Elk Lake, offering stunning contrast of the seasons.
Sunriver Resort invites the public to the exhibition during Lodge hours. Billye Turner organizes the Sunriver Resort Lodge art exhibits with info at 503-780-2828 or billyeturner@bendnet.com