My Minds Eye Exhibit - April 12 - May 3

SALISBURY, MD -- The photographic images of Dean Peterson, Salisbury University Art Department instructor, are on display in the exhibit, "My Minds Eye," in the Atrium Gallery on campus April 12-May 3. An opening reception is Friday, April 12, from 5-7 p.m.

Peterson has directed the SU Graphic Design and Photography programs since 1984. He instructs students at all levels of photography and is currently expanding the program to include a new digital photo imagery course.

Peterson first became seriously involved with photography as a printmaking student in the M.F.A. Program at Eastern Michigan University in 1968. He explored various processes to achieve photographic effects in his lithography, etching and silkscreen images. Looking for the "odd effect rather than the straight conventional quality of a photograph," Peterson said he began experimenting with non-traditional photographic processes like gum printing, cyanotype and infrared films that lend themselves to studio art oriented images. He works with color media and black and white images without favoring one over the other. "For the most part my work deals with eternal truths that endure cultural changes," Peterson said. Often his images are conceptual or abstract, constructed to explore the primary relationships of forms.

Peterson's favorite photographers include Edward Weston, Paul Strand, Yousuf Karsh, Jay Masiel and Pete Turner. "Morris Lewis the painter, Paul Wunderlick the printmaker, Jasper Johns and all the impressionists are inspirational," he added.

Peterson uses both conventional 35mm and digital camera equipment. "Many of the works in the show were shot on digital cameras that vary in quality of capture, depending on the demands of the images," he said. The film was scanned when a 35mm format was used and most of the images in the show are printed on an Epson Inkjet printer.

Hours for the exhibit at the Atrium Gallery in the Guerrieri University Center are 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday - Friday, and closed on weekends. For more information call the Atrium Gallery at 410-548-2547 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.