ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
Depart on a visual journey to three distinct locations in Asia with visions of asia. Join three Central Texas Photographers as they chronicle their personal experience of THE PICTURESQUE BEAUTY OF SCENERY IN GUILIN, CHINA; THE VIBRANT URBAN ENERGY OF CHENNAI, INDIA; AND the religious rituals of devotees at the Ganges in Allahabad, India.
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GUILIN, CHINA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAROL SCHIRALDI
In 2017 Carol Schiraldi was one of eight photographers selected to travel to China with master photographer, Tillman Crane, who had an exhibit at the National Art Museum of China. Her journey included working with local guides and taking Mandarin language classes at the Chinese Language Institute in Guilin, China. During her visit, she was inspired by the proverb, 桂林⼭⽔甲天下 (Guìlín shānshuǐ jiǎtiānxià)(“Guilin’s scenery is the most beautiful under heaven.”), and focused on Guilin’s scenery as the subject of her photographs. Part of Guilin’s charm is that it reminded her of Austin: scenic, friendly, quintessentially “local”, and about the same size. She was captivated by the beauty of Buddhist temples and natural karst rock formations. She enjoyed watching shoppers on scooters scurry along the path to the market. Through Schiraldi’s lens the viewer can envision a town that feels both legendary and modern.
Artist bio
Carol Schiraldi was born in New York and currently lives near Austin, Texas. She passionately practices experimentation in her creative process which give her work a dramatic signature style. This includes many attempts at recreating Edward Hopper’s painting “Nighthawks” by photographing at “greasy spoon” diners late at night. She lists her addictions as “coffee, Ramen noodles, spinning, and photography, but not in that order.” Her first show was in 1992 at Amy’s Ice Cream in Austin. Since then Carol’s work has been published in The Guardian UK, Texas Monthly’s Texas Traveler, Modern Bungalow, Fraction Magazine, Arrow Magazine, Lencscratch, The Photographer’s Daily, File Magazine, TheAppWhisperer and LensCulture. She has exhibited her pictures in The Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece; The Center for Fine Art Photography Fort Collins, Colorado; The Jones Center for Contemporary Art, Austin, Texas; Coastal Art League Museum, Half Moon Bay, California; Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, Texas; Mills Pond Gallery, Saint James, New York; The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas; New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana; A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, Texas; Dougherty Arts Center, Austin, Texas; PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont; Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin, Texas; and Flatbed Press Gallery, Austin, Texas. Her photography is currently licensed through Getty Images and retails at minted.com. See more of her quirky style on her website.
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CHENNAI, INDIA
photography by ed malcik
Ed Malcik specializes in photographing city environments. In 2014-2015 he lived and photographed in Chennai, India. He focused on India’s fourth largest city, formerly called Madras, because of its cacophony of temples, commercial signs, political billboards, concrete apartments, glass skyscrapers, vehicle traffic, construction, people on sidewalks, and vibrant festivals. He saw similarities between Chennai and Austin. The humid weather, prevalent high-tech companies, and thriving film and music reminded him of home. He also noticed a similar uneasiness of pollution and poverty. Malcik was particularly compelled to document the political and religious imagery that is woven throughout much of Chennai’s visual environment.
ARTIST BIO
Ed Malcik studied photojournalism at the University of Texas and worked as a staff photographer at Texas newspapers, including five years at The Austin American-Statesman. He freelanced for the wire services and publications such as Cosmopolitan, Us, Texas Monthly, and The New York Times. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Gambia, and as a Foreign Service Officer at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, including the U.S. Consulate General in Bombay, now Mumbai. He left diplomacy to return to photography and worked on projects in Paris 2010-12 and Chennai 2013-15. He now lives in Austin where he photographs on the street in a documentary style. His work has been exhibited in Europe, India, and the United States, and is included in the Wittliff Collections. He is represented by Mockingbird Handprints Gallery in San Antonio. More of his work can be seen on Instagram @edmalcikphotography, and his web page EdMalcikPhotography.com. He is looking for a publisher for his book The Electric Squirrel: Photos From Austin.
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allahabad, india
photography by Deleigh Hermes
As Deleigh Hermes visited and photographed The Kumbh Mela, she was inspired by the fluidity and spirituality of the water but focused on the people to tell the story. To capture these photos, she spent hours amongst the festival participants, watching and learning how they live and pray. The Kumbh Mela is a Hindu holy festival that happens every twelve years from January to March on dates determined by astrology. It draws over 120 million Hindus from all over India, and the city of Allahabad builds an ephemeral city from the ground up for this special event. Makeshift, metal roads are laid, dozens of pontoon bridges are constructed, temporary cities are constructed to house the crowds of devotees, and full electricity is installed for over 40,000 lights. They come to bathe in the waters of the Ganges River at the Triveni Sangam, where they believe the God Vishnu once dropped the nectar of immortality. By washing in this sacred convergence of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati Rivers, devotees become pure again with an eternal hope of a life free of sins and rebirth.
ARTIST BIO
Deleigh Hermes grew up exploring the outdoors in Texas where she was born and raised. Her grandmother inspired her early interest in photography, and she went on to earn a BFA in Photographic and Digital Imaging at Texas State University. After graduating, she developed her ability for storytelling and cultivated a photojournalistic approach to her creative process. She participated in workshops with photojournalists John Stanmeyer, Chris Burkard, and Jim Richardson. She worked assisting adventure photographer Chad Copeland and Ismail Ferdous on his National Geographic story "A New American Dream". She is drawn to systems of religion, agriculture, and technology, and the way they affect people’s lives. For Hermes, wilderness survival skills and harmony with nature are integral to her artistic process. She founded Digital Native Workshops, an outdoor tour company that specializes in teaching backcountry adventure photography and guides companies on team building adventures. As a mentee of photojournalists Yannis Behrakis, who was dedicated to improving the lives of people he documented, Hermes’ nonprofit, Hermes Productions, gives proceeds to Doctors Without Borders. Hermes’ pictures have been published on Yahoo!, in National Geographic, Backpacker Magazine, Roads and Kingdoms, and The Wall Street Journal. Her website can be found here.
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