ABOUT ARNOLD BERKMAN
I began to photograph almost sixty-five years ago when I was given a Kodak Baby Brownie camera for my birthday. I still remember my excitement as I waited in anticipation for my photographs to return from Kodak, where I had sent them to be processed. I still experience that excitement whenever I photograph.
Of all the visual arts, only photography can capture and freeze a fleeting moment. In my photography, I try to capture that moment. I am attracted to what is uniquely beautiful, poignant, and evocative of mood and feeling. The fleeting moment creates an emotional response in me. I typically cannot verbalize my response, as if the way in which I respond to what I see is unconscious. Nevertheless, I can visualize how my completed photograph might look.
Texture, shape, composition, and light are elements that create mood and feeling. Most important, for me, is light. My favorite painter is Edward Hopper. Hopper was once asked, “What do you paint?” Hopper replied, “I paint light.” The word, photograph, means to paint with light. Without light, even the most special moment will appear static and flat. Light brings a photograph to life. Without light, there can be no mood nor feeling.
All of these photographs arise from the visions that had caught eye. Their subject matter is varied and eclectic. They were made all over the world. Each has its own story to tell.
My photographs reveal what I see, how I see, and the manner in which I respond to what I see. They reveal much of me. All of these photographs are my responses, often unconscious, to the fleeting moment that had been in front of my eyes.
EXHIBITIONS
IN MICHIGAN
Juried Group Shows
Ann Arbor Public Library, Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor
Newaygo County Photography Show, Fremont
Margot's Gallery, Oxford
Absolute Gallery, Lansing
Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Center, Michigan Fine Arts Competition, Birmingham
Scarab Club Gallery, Detroit
Our Town Art Show at the Birmingham Community House, Birmingham
University of Michigan-Dearborn Open Competition at the Alfred Berkowitz Gallery, Dearborn
Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing
Padzieski Gallery, Dearborn
Lawrence Street Gallery, Ferndale
Solo Shows
East Lansing Public Library, East Lansing
Lawrence Street Gallery, Ferndale
University of Michigan Medical Center, Gifts of Art Program, Ann Arbor
Anselmo Gallery, Lansing
The Framer's Edge Gallery, Okemos
Invited Solo Shows
Birmingham Unitarian Church, Birmingham
Michigan Design Center, Troy
Invited Group Shows
The Industrial Revolution, Plymouth Community Arts Center, Plymouth
Membership
Lawrence Street Gallery, Ferndale
IN NEW YORK
Juried Group Show
Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn
AWARDS
Best of Show
Padzieski Gallery Annual Photography Exhibition, Dearborn
Best of Color
Lawrence Street Gallery, Ferndale
Honorable Mention
Lawrence Street Gallery, Ferndale
CONTACT:
Arnold Berkman
4780 Arapaho Trail
Okemos, MI 48864
517-896-8542
Contact Arnold Berkman for Prices
IMAGE GALLERIES
The American Prairie and the Great Plains
National Parks of The American Southwest
US Route 66: The Death of an American Icon
March 2020 Solo Show - Lawrence Street Gallery
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