Solo Exhibit - Thirty Years of Salt Life

I am very pleased to announce my solo exhibit titled 'David Durbak - Thirty Years of Salt Life' which will open at the Ross Bagwell Art Gallery in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 5, 2015. The exhibit is a retrospective of the past thirty years of my photography and features selected images from three of my Florida-based series; Floridays, Oceanids, and Source. It is difficult to believe that 30 years, three whole decades, have passed since my wife, Janice, first gifted me with a Hasselblad camera in order to start this wonderful career in photography. My, how the time has flown and what a crazy, fun-filled time it has been!

The images are all film-based and were created using various methods that match the intent and narrative of each series:
 - Floridays, based upon my memories of 'Old Florida' as well as the songs of troubadour Jimmy Buffett, were created using a simple, mostly out-of-focus Holga toy camera
 - Oceanids, based upon my love for Greek and Roman mythology (and my many hours of reading and re-reading the Iliad and Odyssey), and Source, based upon Florida's unique waters, were created using that now 30-year old Hasselblad camera
 - while the Floridays and Source series were printed using modern carbon piezography methods, the Oceanids images were printed using the antique cyanotype process.

My grateful thanks to all of my clients, family, friends, and supporters who have made the past thirty years possible, and my special thanks to you, Janice, for starting this whole whirlwind.

I hope you get a chance to visit the gallery and share my images and my memories.

A sample image from the Source series is shown above and I'll be posting images of the exhibit in the gallery soon.

Happy New Year 2015

I have a ritual of creating new images on the first day of each new year and this year has been no exception. A visit to the downtown and sponge docks area of Tarpon Springs is always fruitful as it seems that there is something interesting to photograph on each and every street corner and all the points in between.

I decided to experiment with my Polaroid Spectra camera using The Impossible Project Silver Shade film. This image was created with the original version of the film, so it's quite unpredictable and every image is a surprise. (Sometimes it's a surprise to simply get any image.) The film needs to be shielded from sunlight, so it's imperative to slip each image immediately into a light-tight container or, at the least, a coat pocket. I'm looking forward to trying the new formula which is supposed to be more stable.

I wish everyone a peaceful and creative New Year in 2015.

St. Petersburg, Florida - The Pyramid Pier

The first City of St. Petersburg Pier was the Railroad Pier, built by the Orange Belt Railway back in 1889. The most elaborate was the Million Dollar Pier, with its Mediterranean revival architecture, which was completed in 1926. It was demolished in 1967, to make way for the current inverted Pyramid Pier, which was opened to the public in 1973. The Pyramid Pier was closed in 2013 due to structural deterioration.

It remains to be seen what style of architecture will replace the current pier. In the meantime, it still makes for a fetching photographic subject.

New Years Day 2014

I love photographing at Howard Park in Tarpon Springs and it's been the inspiration for many of my Floridays images throughout the years. Continuing a tradition of creating new images on New Years Day, I went out to see a very strange sight as the Gulf of Mexico was at the lowest tide I had ever seen. It was quite surreal, like an other-wordly view, as I was able to walk out for several hundred yards on what was usually the bottom of the sea. A strange start to a whole new year.

Floridays + Mangroves

There is a beautiful symbiosis amongst the microbes, plants, and animals of the Florida shorelines within the communities of red mangroves. The numerous feeding and spawning fish and nesting water birds that live within the sprawling roots of the mangroves make for delightful viewing on any day along the shores.

River of Grass Revisited

I recently re-read Marjory Stoneman Douglas' book, "The Everglades River of Grass," which was first published in 1947. I was particularly interested in the Afterword titled "Forty More Years of Crisis" which was published in 1987, forty years after the first publication. In 1987, Ms. Stoneman Douglas, at 98 years of age, was still a tireless supporter of the River of Grass and still seeking to educate more people about this fragile ecosystem upon which all of southern Florida relies so much, yet understands so little.

I have been a visitor to Florida since the 1960's and a resident since the 1970's and, like Ms. Stoneman Douglas, have watched as Florida has continuously vanished before my eyes under concrete, landfills, and pavement. It is so ironic that Florida politicians, who seem to know no other commerce than tourism, are so Hell-bent on destroying the natural beauty and the natural ecosystem of the state, the very things which are the real Florida.

Shame on them for doing so and shame on us for allowing it to happen again and again and again.

The 'Other' Side of the Atlantic

The erosion of the coastline is a constant losing battle of man vs. nature and nature's overwhelming force always wins. Although Hurricane Sandy's immediate effect was hundreds of miles away from the Florida coastline, the significant erosion of the shoreline is testament to the powerful effects of that devastating storm.

Floridays - Juno Beach, Florida

There's something rejuvenating about simply walking along the beach in the early morning. The sunlight filtering through the clouds, the gentle rhythm of the waves, and the salty breeze combine to wash away the cares (and carousing) of the night before and refresh the mind at the start of a new day.

A New Floridays Image

I love serendipity in my photographic explorations - coming across unexpected subjects such as this castaway bench by the Florida Gulf coast. Very often, I will set out, camera in hand, with one idea in mind and then - wham - something presents itself that just begs to be photographed and suddenly all pre-formed ideas are swept aside.

New Year, New Series - The Atlantic

It's been a practice of mine to always create new photography on New Year's Day, part of an old family superstition that states whatever you're doing on New Year's Day, you'll be doing for the rest of that year.

This might be a keeper for a new series which I've titled 'The Atlantic' that will be an on-going series for which I'll be creating new imagery for what I imagine to be quite some number of years. I've always loved and been attracted to water; whether the oceans, lakes, rivers, or streams. This series allows me to be creating within that element once again.

At Galerie Jenner for the 10th Art Basel Miami

It's quite exciting to be a part of the 10th Anniversary of of Art Basel Miami at Galerie Jenner where three of my prints will be a part of the 'Chromatic Resonance' exhibit featuring photography of several Florida-based photographers. Included in the exhibit is the image above titled 'State Road 60' from my 'Heartland' series, as well as two images from my 'River of Grass' series.

I've so enjoyed capturing images using film for both of these series as I find it very liberating as compared to digital capture. There is no 'chimping' at the back of the camera; simply the reassurance of years of knowledge, experience, and the confidence of the pre-visualization of the final print.

Click the following link to see all of the featured photographers in the show:

http://www.galeriejenner.com

'Light of Florida' Photo Exhibition

I am quite pleased that three photographs of mine have been selected for inclusion in the 'Light of Florida' - two images are from my 'River of Grass' series and one image is from my 'Heartland' series. 'Light of Florida' is a collaborative project created by the South Florida Chapter and the Central Florida Chapter of American Society of Media Photographers to produce a premium coffee table book, a promotional internet portfolio, and a print exhibit. The images feature people and places captured in the unique and varied natural light that makes Florida a great place to photograph. The print exhibit will have an opening in February, 2012, at KW Light Gallery, located on Duvall Street in Key West.


The image shown is titled 'Water Hyacinth' from the 'River of Grass' series.

To view the current 'River of Grass' images, please visit:

http://daviddurbak.com/river.html

'Nave and Altar' from the 'Impermanence' series

I am thrilled, to say the least, that a framed print of 'Nave and Altar' from my 'Impermanence' series has been chosen by the esteemed artist Enrique Martínez Celaya to reside in the collection at Whale & Star.

To view the entire 'Impermanence' series, please visit:

http://daviddurbak.com/impermanence.html

To view the artwork of Enrique Martínez Celaya, please visit:

http://whaleandstar.com/