Photo Exhibition Engenders God’s Peace, Contentment
Dianne Carroll Burdick loves her work as a photographer.Photographer Dianne Carroll Burdick has a certain affinity for landscapes and Michigan-grown food. And since it's the beginning of spring, it's a perfect time to share it with others.Through May 1 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 47 Jefferson Ave SE in Grand Rapids, Carroll Burdick has on display 60 hand-colored prints that are from two of her books.
A calming presence
The response from people clearly indicates a calming presence reflected in God's creation that resonates with people who live in a hurried society.
"I do feel blessed," Carroll Burdick said. "I was able to make these images to make so many people happy and some how give them peace. The creative process allows me to be in touch with the spiritual side of being. It is quiet, mindful, artful, full of prayer, and is the closest thing to God, where the gifts that I have, can shimmer through."
The first book the exhibition is based on is titled, "Listen to the Landscape," published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company in 2006. It's a collection of 28 hand-colored photographs, with haiku by Linda Nemec Foster.
Carroll Burdick photographed all the images with black & white film and then printed them on fiber-base black & white paper. When the prints dried, she treated the paper with an oil-base solvent and colored the image with colored pencils. The photos were shot at locations that include California, Michigan and the East Coast.
This photo from Carroll Burdick’s “Listen to the Landscape” book. It taken on her dad's ranch in Ukiah, Calif., and it’s her personal favorite because it shows oak trees that grow abundantly on his 200-acre ranch. “We would hike by these trees when my dad was still alive,” Carroll Burdick said."I choose landscapes because it's perfect for spring," Carroll Burdick said. "I wanted to show as many images as possible in a grid that patrons have called quilts."The second group of prints on display at Westminster Presbyterian are of food grown in Michigan derived from Caroll Burdick's 2012 book, "Tasting and Touring Michigan's Homegrown Food: a Culinary Road Trip," published by Arbutus Press and written by Jaye Beeler.
For one year Carroll Burdick and Beeler toured Michigan looking for specific foods, gardens, farmers, orchards, fields, markets, and the Great Lakes.
Carroll Burdick said she not only notices the natural details of the land, but also the marks of humanity entwined with nature: fields, fences, clouds, barns and food grown. Each square in the grid highlights a color, revealing the relationships between people to the land and the art of the images.
Carroll Burdick said she shot about 10,000 photos for the "Tasting and Touring" of which 250 where included in the book. The exhibit includes many that were not published."These photographs represent the glory of Michigan," Carroll Burdick said. "The colors, the land, the joy of sustaining food and agriculture in the wonderful state."
Storied career
Carroll Burdick enjoys a long career as a photographer. Her photos have been published in USA Today, the Salvation Army, Grand Valley State University, the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Public Museum of Grand Rapids and Opera Grand Rapids. She was a contract photographer for The Grand Rapids Press from 1996 to 2009.
Today, she is a continuing studies instructor at Kendall College of Art and Design where she teaches digital photography. She has participated in over 50 art exhibitions and her work is included in six books.
Carroll Burdick is the recipient of over 30 awards in photography. Her images are on the Grammy-nominated CD of Debra Henson-Conent with the Grand Rapids Symphony.
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Carroll Burdick also leads photo walks in the Grand Rapids community and teaches photography workshops at the Frederik Meijer Gardens. Her latest book on Michigan Apples from Northport is due out in late summer 2015.
