Peninsula Gallery to host Transitions exhibit reception Oct. 7

The evolution of a changing reality is visually documented in Peninsula Gallery’s upcoming photography exhibition, Transitions, set to run Saturday, Oct. 7 to Sunday, Oct. 29, with an artists’ reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m., Oct. 7.

Works from art photographers Brook Hedge and Phyllis Berger will ask viewers to look differently at the world around them, allowing them to perceive common images through the artists’ unique perspectives.

“Brook and her work are well respected here at the gallery; any photograph of hers will capture the imagination of the viewer. And we are thrilled to welcome Phyllis to the gallery with her creative, narrative-style photography collection. Brook and Phyllis share an eye for similar subjects and palettes, yet how they see the world through their lenses allows their individualities to shine through. Transitions is a very exciting and artful show, and we can’t wait to share it with our clients,” said Tony Boyd-Heron, gallery co-owner and exhibitions director.

After 40 years in the legal profession in Washington, D.C., Hedge now pursues her lifelong passion for photography. Through the years, she has studied with a variety of professionals, and her works have been widely exhibited. Hedge has had numerous exhibitions at the Peninsula Gallery including a solo show in 2019, a partner show with her late mentor Richard Calvo in 2020 and a group show titled I Am Woman in 2021. The well-known Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery in Sandwich, N.H., now represents Hedge exclusively. In October 2022, she and two colleagues with whom she had a portrait studio presented their work in the exhibition Six Eyes: Common Vision at the Rehoboth Art League. 

Hedge’s photographs explore the transitions found in both humanity and nature. Her works mix images of vivid landscapes with ghostly black-and-white portraits, contrasting the starkness of nature’s bright, wild world with humanity’s colorless reality. Despite her simple subjects, Hedge uses various photographing techniques to create meaning in each picture, transforming the everyday into something profound and artistic.   

Berger holds an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is a faculty member at the Center for Visual Arts at Johns Hopkins University, where she started the photography program 27 years ago. Berger has also lectured internationally on the topic of photography. She is a recipient of two artist residencies in Rochefort en Terre, Brittany, France, and has been awarded numerous teaching grants through JHU (Arthur Vining Davis, Arts Innovation). Her work has been exhibited at solo shows in Baltimore at the Evergreen Museum and Library, the MICA Biennale, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Banneker Douglas Museum; and at the Rehoboth Art League and the Museum of Rochefort en Terre in Britanny. Berger’s artwork resides in many private collections.
 
The 15 pieces Berger has on display in Transitions create a narrative journey for viewers to explore. The series, which she has titled “The Lifted Veil,” depicts her transition as a mystic traveler seeing and experiencing the world again through color and nature. The photographs tell a fictional story filled with magic, mysticism and folklore, which serves as a metaphor for Berger’s recovery from life-altering surgery.  

Works from the show can be previewed at peninsula-gallery.com. 

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, in the Village Shoppes at the Beacon Inn, 520 East Savannah Road, Lewes.