The 20th Annual Holiday Photography Show at Image City Photography Gallery marks two decades of showcasing a variety of genres of photography by local and regional photographers. The show shines a light on the evolving talents of photographers, both amateur and professional, who have participated over the years.
As visitors wander through the gallery, they are treated to a visual feast that embodies the joy and the wonder of the holiday season. The feature walls include photos by the Image City Gallery Partners: Dick Bennett, Marie Costanza, Nicholas Jospe, Steve Levinson, Gil Maker, Don Menges, Luann Pero, John Solberg, and Sheridan Vincent.
This year two professional photographers, Steve Dent and Elena Dilai, decided to collaborate together on a project, which begins during the Holiday Show, where they will be showing the first set of images from their collaboration. Their joint effort will continue during 2025. Footwork, their theme for the first group of images, is based on 2 images that support each photographer’s interpretation of a subject.
Steve Dent, owner of SgD Photography, is a photographer from Buffalo, NY. Steve enjoys photographing a variety of genres and is especially skilled in portrait photography. Steve says that when he first viewed some of Elena’s work at Image City, he was immediately intrigued. “Her Fine Art was exceptional; I wanted to get to know her and observe more of her work.” After being asked by Image City to exhibit during the Holiday Show, Steve’s first thought was that he had to contact Elena to see if she were interested in collaborating.
Elena Dilai, owner of Elena Dilai Photography is an international award-winning portrait photographer. When Steve contacted Elena to collaborate on the holiday show, Elena says she was “flattered and excited by it.” For the first segment of their project, they decided to show images of dancers, in a combination of natural and realistic portraits along with abstract collages based on dancers’ forms. According to Steve, the basic concept was to find common ground between two Fine Art photographers, integrating target images in sets, with two interpretations of the same subject.
For their first display of the project, Elena and Steve started with a color scheme and agreed on red and blue because they symbolize opposing yet complementary forces: passion and calm, energy and tranquility, fire and water. Elena says, “I hope the viewer will see the balance between the spontaneity of a dancer and the structure of the geometrical form, depicted in the intensity of red and serenity of blue. The dance is the bridge, connecting contrasts and showing how differences can co-exist.”
After deciding on their theme, the ideas bounced back and forth until three of Steve’s portraits provided Elena with an inspiration to take her work in a different direction, making it more abstract, but correlating with the portraits Steve had in his collection.
Both photographers were excited to see what each could produce based on a theme, yet taking their images in a direction that correlates with each of their individual styles. Elena says, “Steve has a talent of capturing dancers in a striking way, showing movement, strength and grace of his subjects.” In his images the viewer can see emotion and elegance.
One of Steve’s images is called “Dancing in the Twilight.” Steve attributes this beautiful image to the perfection exuded by his subject. He says, “VikTory, a professional ballerina/dancer from Austria, loves her work and is an excellent teacher as a dancer/model. Her knowledge of the nuances of dance photography—her ability and patience to work with the photographic community—results in exquisite images.”
Elena has a different approach to portraiture. She says, “Though I capture realistic portraits most of the time, I do enjoy blending them with a variety of textures and backgrounds, creating more abstract images.”
Elena’s favorite image in their holiday display is one she calls “Fragmented Motion—Serenity.” She says, “The scene is almost ethereal; the geometric form is not as angular, giving the whole image more fluidity and grace. I feel as if the dancer is leaning into the light with the aura of elegance, creating a delicate balance between human artistry and an abstract world.”
Steve and Elena hope the viewers will appreciate the dialogue between the grace and movement and will be inspired by the power of dance, beauty of human form and the interplay of the abstract pieces. To see additional images by Steve and Elena, visit their websites:
In addition to Steve and Elena’s display, visitors to the Image City Holiday Show 2024 will be able to enjoy images created by Michael Tombs and Marcia Zach in the Neuberger Gallery, as well as Guest Artists: Nikki Bittner, Mary Clare, Bob Crumrine, Liesel Gaesser, Larry Mandelker, David Perlman, Owen Shapiro, Dick Thomas and Michelle Turner.
One response to “20th Annual Holiday Exhibit”
Each of these images is breathtaking in its own way. I’m looking forward to seeing them in person!