AT THE GALLERIES

Paul Korhummel says that when he travels, he sees things with a fresh eye, and that's why you won't see many local scenes in his
delightful photography show in the gallery at Toby's in Point Reyes Station this month. There will be a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. this Saturday, June 5.

The Inverness Park builder and designer has certainly traveled extensively – Mexico, Belize, Nepal, Thailand, India, China, Thailand, and England to name a few of his destinations over the past twenty years.

Of course, if you're familiar with his houses, you know that he maintains a very fresh eye when he stays at home, but it seems that carrying his Nikon and shooting hundreds of photos on his travels is part of the vacation experience and its spirit.

The spirit of freedom is wonderfully portrayed by his photos of people, particularly children. A shot of two girls playing a game in Nepal is so natural and unposed that it will charm any viewer. Absorbed in their game, the two youngster ignore both the photographer and the spectacular background of the snowy Himalayas. In another image, three children in red, running toward the camera also captures a timeless charm and an enthusiasm for life.

Adults are not overlooked. A young monk in a rich red robe dancing and two monks in yellow robes seated at their meditations are both visual feasts. And again, the subjects seem completely unconscious of the camera.

How does he do it? Partly by shooting lots and lots of photos. He has a huge collection to choose from at the end of a trip, but it also has a lot do to the people. In Nepal, for instance, the people are very friendly and natural. This is not the case in in some other countries. In China most folks are camera shy and even surely or suspicious of the camera.

He has a fascinating shot of the an elderly Chinese women seated with a cane beneath a large poster hung on a dark red wall. The poster advertises an art exhibit with two, larger than life figures, but the woman's obvious lack of interest provides an enigma and an ironic contrast.

Technically, Korhummel's show provides a good lesson in the changes that are going on these days in photography. He digitalizes his pictures with a high resolution scanner. Then he uses the Photo Shop program to make adjustments in contrast, intensity and color. The image is then printed with Ultra Chrome inks on an ink-jet printer. He uses Pictorico, a glossy paper with a ceramic coating.

"In my past experiences," Korhummel says, "what I got with a camera rarely came out the way I remembered it. Now, with digital adjustment I can fix that to get the image I want, the thing I remembered."

The technique also allows some wonderful innovation. He has reproduce a picture of an Asian White Stork on a twisted tree branch on hand-made paper. One of these he has blown up into a print some two feet wide and about a foot high. It dominates one wall of the gallery.

Technical advances aside, it is clear that Korhummel's far-ranging eye is what makes this show a success. He is adept at finding rich colors and bold contrast, but he also knows when to use restraint. "Green Boulder in the Lake District" taken during a 1992 trip to England is almost monochromatic. and the same can be said for "Fog, Nicasio Reservoir," the only local image. Both photos are delicately subtle.

The show continues until June 30.

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  TONGUE TIED

I've never been extremely proud
Of anything I said out loud,
And just once I got a swollen head
Over something that I left unsaid.
Rick Lyttle 5/31/04

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