Main Street Gallery is very excited to be exhibiting guest artist David Harp’s photographs for its September/October show. Dave’s work in this show focuses on the landscapes, people, and flora and fauna of the Chesapeake Bay region. A renowned, award-winning photographer and filmmaker, who is a lifelong Marylander, Dave lives and maintains a studio in Cambridge and has been photographing the Chesapeake Bay’s “delights and dilemmas,” as he puts it, for over four decades.
He explains that he often finds inspiration for his photographs in the marshy areas in and around the Bay, where the land and the water meet. This is where the above-water life he is looking for is so apparent, he says. He also seeks the edges of the days to work, from first light to sunrise and from late afternoon into dusk, when he finds his subjects “bathed in warm light and with long, revealing shadows.”
A graduate of Ohio University with a degree in English, Dave was staff photographer for the Hagerstown Morning Herald and photographer for the Baltimore Sun Magazine for nearly a decade. His magazine work took him to far-flung locations such as the tropical rain forests of Panama, the coast of Normandy for a story on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, and to Australia to photograph the America’s Cup. His photographs have also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Smithsonian, Sierra, and Coastal Living Magazine, among others. In 1990 he left the Baltimore Sun Magazine and started his own editorial photography business in Cambridge. His highly acclaimed photographs have been published locally and around the world, and his photography and film depicting the Chesapeake were exhibited for two years at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD.
Dave has also produced several books with essays by longtime friend and collaborator Tom Horton. These are: Water’s Way: Life Along the Chesapeake published in 2000, The Great Marsh: An Intimate Journey into a Chesapeake Wetland, published in 2002, and The Nanticoke: A Portrait of a Chesapeake River, published in 2015. In 2011 Snowfall: Journey of the Tundra Swans, also created with Tom Horton, was republished. In addition to his books, Dave has produced eight films about the Chesapeake Bay with co-producers Tom Horton and Sandy Cannon-Brown. In 2004 Dave was awarded the Andrew White Medal by Loyola College for his Chesapeake Bay photography. He was also appointed to the Maryland State Arts Council by former Governor Martin O’Malley.
In addition to showing works by David Harp and the Main Street Gallery coop members, the Gallery is excited to have its first pop-up exhibit, featuring the paintings of Maureen Farrell. Maureen is an award-winning contemporary water media artist who lives and maintains her studio in Cambridge. A native of New York, she found her passion for creating art after she remarried, retired and “reevaluated my whole purpose in life,” she says. Maureen’s current focus is on the human figure.
Where Land and Water Meet will open at the Gallery at 518 Poplar St. in Cambridge on September 5 and will run through October 26.
There will be two artist receptions on Second Saturdays, September 13 and October 11, from 5-8 p.m. Dave will speak about his work at the September reception. The receptions are free and all are invited. Light refreshments will be served.
Main Street Gallery is open Fridays through Sundays from 11-5, and online shopping is always available at mainstgallery.net. The Gallery, located in Cambridge’s thriving arts and entertainment district, is the City’s only artist owned and operated cooperative and has been downtown for 14 years. Main Street Gallery is currently reviewing work by prospective members and guest artists. Please contact the Gallery through its website or by calling 410-330-4659 if you are interested in being part of this vibrant artist community.
