The Art of Photography by Rene Crystal: A Solo Exhibition

Sometimes I think I was born tightly clutching a camera in my tiny hands. My Dad was a news photographer for a large newspaper in New Jersey in the 50s - 70s. I have the best memories of him taking me to the art department of the paper and spending time in the darkroom. My eyes got wider by the second as I saw images emerge on the paper.

Although there is no darkroom anymore, that wonder and excitement of seeing images emerge remains with me still.

After spending nearly 25 years in the courtroom, it became evident that every one of us sees any single event differently. And so it is as the lens captures a single moment in time. Textures, layering and “photo painting” have given me the ability to introduce a deeper vision and emotion to my photos, whether it is of an individual leaf or a centuries old tombstone crumbling alone in an old New England cemetery.

In the end I’m just a girl with a camera whose dad handed her a camera all those years ago and said, “Go on now – Take photos.”