Public Pathways: The Olmsted Legacy, A Photographic Journal by Nancy J. Ori, July 5 - August 18, 2000, Funded by Professional Planning & Engineering Corp. and the Friends of Walsh Library Gallery.
Walsh Library Gallery presents the striking nature images of Nancy J. Ori in a new photographic journal in which the Olmsted landscapes of the Union County Park System have been transformed by the photographer's unique internal vision into powerful documentations of beauty within our local parks. The photographs speak to the timelessness of the land and the landscape designs. The exhibit provides a balance of images between the elements of turf, wood and water reflecting many of the design elements typical within the Olmsted parks. Some are romantic in style and provide a strong contrast to the local towns; some are bold forms or use a vista as an aesthetic organizing element. Others are planned or contain artistically composed plantings and some provide a formal element. They are all works of art by Ori and Olmsted.
Nancy J. Ori is respected internationally as a freelance industrial photographer and video producer. She also enjoys teaching photography classes and workshops each year throughout the United States. Affiliated for many years with the Ansel Adams Workshop in California, Ori is also on the faculty of the New Jersey Center for Visual Arts in Summit, Peters Valley Craftsmen in Layton, Somerset Art Association in Bedminster and the Watchung Adult School. In 1990, she established The Heritage Photography Workshop, which she holds each spring in Cape May. And in 1995, she co-founded the New Jersey Photography Forum.
Photographing in the West Coast tradition of her long-time mentors, Ansel Adams and Morley Baer, Nancy expresses her own interpretation of the landscape and architecture. Her photographs reveal a love of light, shadow and form. They are powerful documentations of the land, expressing its vulnerability and endurance. "As I look at my work, I am aware of the major role that Nature plays in the way I see and make photographs. Nature has a way of peeling away the old to reveal something new to us. This same process has become a way of seeing, thinking and documenting for me. I do not want my photographs to show decomposition but instead vulnerability, not the ravages of time but endurance."
"Since 1970, I have traveled throughout the world working on various photographic and video projects which has given me the opportunity to explore many popular and cherished places with my cameras. Landscape and architecture has become a source of inspiration and discovery. In 1978 and 1980, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Ansel Adams in California and then teach at the Ansel Adams Workshop on a number of occasions. Through this association, I was exposed to Ansel's philosophy on preservation and documentation of the landscape and learned a special respect and love of the land."
The work presented here at Seton Hall University by Nancy Ori was made possible in part by a HEART GRANT (History, Education and Arts, Reaching Thousands) from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1998. Funding has also been provided by Professional Planning & Engineering Corporation and the Friends of the Walsh Library Gallery.