A Photographer's Dream

It has always been a dream of mine to have my own photo show. In the past I always exhibited with my camera groups at numerous places in Northeast Ohio from art galleries and libraries to the President Garfield Memorial in Lakeview Cemetery.

My dream is about to come true with a One-Man Show. The photographic exhibition will be at the Westlake Porter Public Library from May 3 through May 31, 2010. The library is located at 27333 Center Ridge Road in Westlake. There will be a ”Meet the Artist” reception on Sunday, May 16, 2010, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the library.

The work exhibited is varied. My first commercial-industrial job at age 19 was for the company I was working for. The show as presented has a few pictures of that first job. Also a photograph of a machine I photographed, which was one of the biggest and tallest I had ever photographed. It was 10 feet square at its base and over 30 feet tall.

A 40 x 60 inch print of it was sent and exhibited in London, England, at the International Foundry Show of 1977. The pictures were then published in Foundry Magazine and the Annual Report of Combustion Engineering in 1977.

Other pictures on exhibition are examples of my personal work covering a wide range of subjects from flowers to aviation. The photos included here are my “Renaissance Stair,” a first prize winner for color; and “Winter’s Harvest,” which won 1st prize for black and white photography at the Cleveland Press Photo Ohio Photo contest in 1981.

Since I have gone digital, I have donated my complete darkroom to Midpark High School. Now I often scan my old slides and or negatives into the computer to bring them new life as digital prints.

Bob Zak lives in Westlake.