Matthew White Tells Story of Endangered Coastline
Baton Rouge, La. (PRWEB) April 11, 2008 -- Matthew White, a landscape photographer who lives and works in the New Orleans area, has been selected to exhibit three photographs in the 6th Annual Grand Isle Juried Exhibition. The "Water Consciousness" exhibit, which runs April 12 through April 20 in the Grand Isle Community Center, will spotlight works relating the natural beauty and potential loss of the island and the surrounding wetlands.
"I have been documenting Louisiana's unique coastal landscape since five years before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the coast," explained White. "But while others focused on that devastation after the storm, I saw strength and resilient beauty along the Louisiana shoreline. That's the positive landscape I focus on and the inspiring spirit I hope to convey through my photography."
The goal of the exhibition is to raise awareness of Louisiana's coastal erosion through an artist's eye and to encourage the creation and preservation of images of this culture and its disappearing habitat for future generations. The three works of White that have been selected are Lake Borgne #3, Blue Lake Pontchartrain, The Rigolets, which even shows inspiration in the rainbow captured in the image taken in Nov. 2007.
"The coast is a beautiful subject, but it means so much more than a pretty picture," added White. "If Louisiana's coastline erodes, it will be a loss for everyone. I hope that my photographs move people to both soak in its beauty and educate themselves on way to preserve this vanishing landscape."
White hopes his photos of every notable location along the entire Louisiana coast border, will eventually be published in a book and archived as an entire collection.
The juror of the exhibition is Bonita Day. A Louisiana native, Day currently lives in New Orleans and received her BFA from Louisiana State University in 1992 and her MFA from Tulane University in 1999. After an awards presentation in Grand Isle on Apirl 20, the exhibit will be shown from May 31 through Aug. 2, 2008, in Philadelphia and judged by Joel M. Smith, author and curator of photography and the Princeton University Art Museum.
About Matthew White
Matthew White (www.matthewwhitestudio.com) is a native New Yorker who fell in love with photography at an early age. He has lived and worked as a freelance photographer and musician, after receiving a Bachelor's Degree in music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and a Master's Degree in jazz studies from the University of New Orleans, a summa cum laude graduate. His work has been featured in the Grand Isle Juried Art Exhibit and as part of a permanent museum exhibit for Parks Canada in New Brunswick. White is represented by Big Vision Media (www.bigvisionmedia.com).
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