Rena Buchgraber   Using the camera as my palette, I "paint" with -photographic- reality to create images that focus on details of our environment I find compelling. By pairing seemingly unrelated vignettes or combining two separate photos in a digital collage, I often find surprising parallels and a message beyond the sum of their individual languages. All the photographs in this show have been taken on a recent trip to Japan that left me with a new appreciation for subtlety (in color, texture, taste and tone) and amazed about the harsh contrast yet harmonious coexistence there of old and new, loud and quiet, bright and dark. Without trying, I know parts of the Japanese aesthetic have found a way to work themselves into my work. Many of my photographs, though, could just as well be from around the corner, as I’m not interested in documenting places, or showing what’s typical or best about them. What I am trying to communicate with my images is my view of a world that despite all things bad and ugly, violent or disturbing, continues to amaze me with its simple yet stunning visual power in often overlooked places. I am interested in the subtle or striking colors and compositions found in nature as well as in man-made environments, the sensuality and unexpected beauty in small details along the way. Treating these often trivial places and objects like art by singling them out, enlarging and literally elevating them to the canvas, I hope to sharpen the viewer’s eye for the little things that can make everyday life wonderful. I scan and compose traditional 35mm photographs on the computer, and then print the finished files on special water-resistant canvas with archival ink, mounting and finishing them like a painting to enhance their painterly effect. To me, the camera, computer and output technology are mere tools that allow me to present to a wider audience what I see with my eyes and cherish. I do not alter the images and I'm not interested in special effects or filters ­reality is convincing just as it is.