VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

If it's springtime in an even-numbered year, it must be time for the internationally famous FotoFest Biennial!  Buchanan Gallery is honoted to be a Participating Space for FotoFest, and proudly presents Resplendent Shores, an exhibition of dramatically scaled black-and-white photographs by John C. Dyes.

Dyes, a Galveston County resident, has spent years capturing the beauty and majesty of Galveston's coastlines and wetlands, and we are doubly thrilled to present an exhibition with such a strong Galveston connection.

John Dyes acquired his first camera, a twin-lens Rolleiflex, in Puerto Rico while serving with the U.S. Air Force. After the four-year Air Force stint, he finished a BS degree in chemical engineering at the University of Houston. Dyes worked as a tech service engineer for Marathon Oil Company at their refinery in Texas City, Texas. His proximity to the Texas Gulf Coast gave him the opportunity to spend many hours photographing coastal landscapes and water birds. Dyes took early retirement from Marathon in 1986 and attended Rice University where he attained a BFA degree in photography in 1987. He earned an MFA in photography from the University of Houston in 1990. At U of H, as a part of his graduate fellowship, he taught a “Fundamentals of Photography” class. Following graduation Dyes taught photography at the College of the Mainland in Texas City, Texas, and continuing education photography workshops at Rice University.

For years Dyes photographed in color that left the viewer with feelings of peace and serenity. He still shoots some color but for the bulk of his work has moved on to black and white where he feels more power and drama. He lives near the Galveston Bay complex so most of his shooting relates in some way to water, whether it be the beaches, bays, marshes or the water birds that nest by the thousands on the Gulf Coast.

Dyes does his own darkroom work and for some series creates unique works by hand coating various watercolor papers with photo emulsion. He also works in palladium. His limited edition prints are a sensitive response to the avian and scenic worlds of the coastal waters.

Dyes authored Nesting Birds of the Coastal Islands, a compilation of his photographs with accompanying text. The book, published by the University of Texas Press (Austin, TX) in 1993, is now out of print. Dyes participated in FotoFest, The International Month of Photography, with solo exhibitions at the C.G. Jung Center (Houston, TX) 1992 and Buchanan Gallery (Galveston, TX) 2006. His work has been featured in exhibitions at Allen Street Gallery (Dallas, TX), Blaffer Gallery (University of Houston, TX), Galveston Arts Center (Galveston, TX), Houston Center for Photography, Odessa College (Odessa, TX), SF Camerawork (San Francisco) and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Also for FotoFest, Buchanan Gallery  will continue to exhibit selections from their most recent exhibition, "Places of Rest: Retired Vessels, Marfa and Big Bend," featuring hand-tinted silver gelatin photographs by Reinhard Ziegler.

Pictured:  detail Resplendent Shores 1, 2008, Archival Digital Print, 48" x 48."