With a phone in hand, anyone can snap a photo.
But there’s something special about hanging that photo up and showing it off. That meant a lot to Soldotna photographer Sue Biggs when she hung her work for the first time in the Kenai Art Center’s Small Shots exhibit years back.
She said she had no idea what she was doing with photography at the time. But she sent in two photos.
"One was my cat Leo, sitting in a sunbeam," she said. "And the other was a piece of driftwood."
They were small pictures, she said. "But it was huge for me.”
Small Shots is back at the art center this March. The exhibit is open to anyone who’s taken a photo or two they want to display, as long as those photos are no larger than 70 square inches each.
Biggs, no longer an amateur photographer, is curating a photography show that will go up alongside the Small Shots exhibit, mashing work from veteran photographers and local shutterbugs into one exhibit.
Alex Rydlinski, executive director at the art center, said that’s the point of the show.
"So someone new to photography, maybe they’re just taking photos on their phone, can show next to someone like William Heath, who knows what he’s doing," he said.
The Small Shots concept started in 2004 with Kenai photographer William Heath. The show was a community favorite but took a hiatus until this year.
The center is putting out an open call for work, which means anyone with a camera – or cameraphone – can submit photos.
The center also did an open call for art last fall.
“There’s always a fear – Is anyone going to show up? But when we had the open call in October, it was ridiculous," Rydlinski said. "We had so much work in there we spilled into the gift gallery.”
Rydlinski – a painter and printmaker – is submitting two Polaroids of his own. He said he’s on the amateur side of things.
But more experienced photographers are welcome to submit to the small shots, too. Rydlinski said it can be a fun challenge for seasoned photographers to take photos they’d usually make large and instead shrink them down.
Biggs has come a long way since she first did Small Shots over a decade ago. Her photos have appeared in several exhibits and have been published in journals and magazines. She had her first solo show at the Kenai Art Center in 2012.
But all those years ago, when she was just coming into her own as a photographer, she was really proud to see her work on the wall for the first time.
"My mother was a painter. And I’ve always wanted to be an artist. And for some reason, that was not the direction I went with my life," she said. "But I’d always wanted to have something on a wall that people could look at. And to have something be presented that way was huge for me."
Biggs is paying homage to the photographers that mentored and influenced her in the second part of the March exhibit, featuring a collection of larger photos that she’s curated from the people who’ve inspired her.
It’s full circle for the photographer.
“It's just a journey of emerging photography," she said. "Not just for me, but I know these people have inspired and mentored so many in this community. And it’s so exciting for me to be mentoring now people in the community.”
The Kenai Art Center is collecting photos starting tomorrow through Saturday during the gallery's open hours. The show opens March 2 with an opening reception March 3.
Photos can be no larger than 70 square inches. Work does not need to be framed. Each photographer can submit up to two photographs.
