Wiscasset Bay Gallery will open “American Light,” an exhibition of new and selected photographs by Cordelia Edwards, on June 25. The opening will coincide with the village’s June Art Walk, when downtown Wiscasset comes alive with musical performances, events at local businesses and gallery openings from 4 to 7 p.m.
Years ago, Cordelia Edwards was introduced to the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank. Although she is deeply moved by the beauty of the natural world, it is people who catch her eye when she is looking through the lens. She likes working in black and white for its directness and clarity, stripping away the familiar and mundane and heightening the moment. Her images of beachgoers follow a long tradition of street photography.
The photographs in “American Light” were taken over a span of 10 years at the same public beach on the west coast of Florida. Edwards was initially intrigued by the Amish and Mennonites in their traditional dress walking, shelling and swimming in the Gulf, so she started bringing her camera. One day early on, she witnessed the Naked Cowboy from Times Square making his way around the beach. Everybody wanted a picture with him, including the Amish, and a mostly naked man with a guitar and cowboy hat posing with Amish grandmothers seemed like a moment that needed to be documented. Edwards started to look more closely amid the dense, colorful swirl of activity, and soon was showing up almost daily with her camera during the winter season.
The beach where Edwards goes is crowded with families, college students, couples, groups of friends and visitors from all over the world. These beachgoers arrive eager to be near the ocean, soaking up bright, warm Florida sunshine. Children play, seagulls swoop, conversations overlap, swimmers splash and music plays. Edwards is interested in the candid nature of the unselfconscious moment. Her photographs are not meant to be portraits of individuals but endeavor to reflect something universal in the human experience, played out on a sandy stage with a cast of thousands.
“American Light” will be on view at Wiscasset Bay Gallery through July 29.
Wiscasset Bay Gallery is at 75 Main St., Wiscasset. For more information, call 207-882-7682 or visit wiscassetbaygallery.com.
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