Cardot juries photo exhibit in Meadville

With talent comes responsibility, When that talent is in the artistic realm, sometimes the responsibility is to act as an art show juror.

What makes that task especially difficult is that one is often judging works of friends and colleagues. It can be an unenviable position, but then those who accept the challenge are to be all the more commended.

For the 2015 Meadville Council on the Arts Juried Photo Exhibit, renowned local photographer Gary Cardot was invited to compile a show from entries by artists within a 250-mile radius of Meadville. The 34 pieces he selected -- from 68 entered -- are on view at Meadville's Heeschen Gallery through July 25.

Twenty-one artists are represented by those pieces. Named best of show is Jodi Staniunas Hopper's "Tantrum," a collection of 24 photos of the various body parts and activities of a whirling young woman. In 2014, this same piece was accepted into the National Juried Photography Exhibit in Frederick, Md.

Cardot chose four other works for juror's awards. "Abandoned" by Dorothy Kloss is one of three pieces she has in the show, moody black and white images starring creepy dolls and cages and bars that are indeterminately keeping things in or out. Lisa Huya's "Trees" presents an ombre forest scene, greens to blues, in a misty morning haze.

Frances R. Rosiak has three photos in the show, travelogues of the highest artistic merit. "Off Old Route 66 Hackberry, AZ" is the one singled out for award recognition. The two entries by Ben Haytock also take the viewer to Arizona, but his are sensuous, striated, sepia-toned abstracted images are of rock formations at Antelope Canyon.

Finding inspiration closer to home are Christopher Lyons, whose nighttime photo of the Erie Water Works Building showcases the incongruously elegant architecture and style for such an industrial and utilitarian facility, and Frederich Fiedler, who captures frozen vineyards in "Ice Wine."

Botanical studies, landscapes, slices of life, portraits, and more fill out what is a delightfully well-rounded show.

A bonus mini-show-within-a-show features six of Cardot's digital infrared photos. He began experimenting with this technique three years ago, taking the trouble to have his camera recalibrated for infrared exposures and learn the latest techniques in computer manipulation.

It was time well spent. His images of local sites like Waldameer and Conneaut Lake Park as well as locales in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and New York City, are eerie and otherworldly and explore the possibilities of light and exposure in a startling, ethereal way. Cardot sets a high bar and a fine example; the juried artists have met the challenge with plenty of freshness and enterprising effort.

SEE ITThe 2015 Meadville Council on the Arts Juried Photo Exhibit continues through July 25 at the Heeschen Gallery on the second floor of the Meadville Market House, 910 Market St. in Meadville. Hours are Wednesdays and Fridays, noon-4 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Call (814) 336-5051 or visit www.artsmeadville.org.

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