James Merola looks for abstract images in the real world.
“Sort of like art in nature,” said Merola, who lives in Milroy. He is having his photographs displayed at the Elk Creek Cafe and Ale-works this month. “I’m not the first one to do it, but I guess it’s my version of it.”
In one of his photos, a young child is swimming in a black lake with swirls of green algae surrounding him. Half his head is above water, but from the mouth down, he’s submerged.
“A child with the menace of a crocodile is a rare find,” wrote curators at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colo., when Merola displayed the portrait there in February 2011. “James Merola’s ‘Jack Swimming’ hints at a calculating subtext but ultimately leaves the viewer curious as to whether Jack’s underwater grin is feral or friendly.”
The young child in the photograph is Merola’s nephew. Merola took the shot during a hot summer day on a piece of property his brother owns near Pittsburgh.
Watching Jack swim reminded Merola of his own childhood.
“There was a sense of mystery and adventure to that cool, black water, swirling with algae, and teeming with frogs, fish and dragonflies,” Merola wrote in a description of the picture. “As you swam, you never quite knew what creatures were in there watching or sometimes touching you as you passed through those murky depths. And though it was a bit unnerving, it was also precisely what made it so fun!”
Merola first started taking pictures as a student at Juniata College, from which he graduated in 1986. He received a master of fine arts degree from Penn State in 1991. And he’s snapped photos in Alaska, Utah, Florida, Mexico and Italy, among other locations.
One photograph, taken in Murani, Italy, has the bright blues and deep greens that you’d expect to find at a lake in the woods. There’s brown that could be dirt and some red that could be fallen leaves or berries.
“The subject is nothing more than the side of an old water taxi,” Merola wrote in a description of the piece, “where it has been in continuous contact with the sea during a sunset.”
That’s the type of non-obvious image Merola specializes in.
“It’s just basically about analyzing and exploring to me,” he said, “and just trying to get an image that works.”
Church holding Valentine’s meal
Tickets are now on sale for a Valentine’s Spaghetti Supper, benefiting the East Penns Valley Area Branch Library.
The fundraiser and dinner will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Aaronsburg Civic Club, located at 315 W. Aaron Square.
Tickets cost $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-12, and are free for children younger than 5.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at the East Penns Valley Branch Library, 225 E. Main St., Millheim, or by calling 359-3528.
Ed Mahon writes about news from the Penns and Brush Valley regions. He can be reached at 231- 4619 or emahon@centredaily.com.
