HOME SWEET HOME. Peter Serko’s digital photographs capture the beauty and essence of various Tacoma locales and are on view now as part of the group show “Feels Like Home” at the Grand Impromptu Gallery. No matter how long viewers of the work have been residents of Tacoma, the show is composed of images that will strike a chord in each visitor. (Photo courtesy of artist)
In the Grand Impromptu Gallery’s newest exhibit, photographer Peter Serko displays a collection of digital images that show that there is beauty in the familiar and the rare, and how various areas of Tacoma conjure up feelings of being home for those from here and those who are just visiting.
The image “Black and Light” is one of the first images of Serko’s that viewers can see on the right-hand wall of the gallery. The image was taken inside the home of one of Serko’s friends’ 1890s mansion, and was composed during the early morning hours when a rare bright sun beamed through windows and onto the doors.
There really are not many colors in the composition, but rather just a black doorframe, gold doorknob and the black frame to house the photograph. The emphasis of the piece is truly the light, underscoring light’s magnanimous role in photography. The photo is simplistically beautiful, and composes a scene that most people have probably seen many times in their lives without recognition. The light stream bends at an angle over the door and the plush white carpet in the early morning and produces endearing shadows.
“Long Shot Under the Bridge” captures the South 21st Street suspension bridge during early morning hours. In Serko’s wall text for this piece he describes how he composed the work. “I never tire of looking at this magnificent structure. I took the photo in the early morning, and the water was still and mirror-like with a deep blue hue. I walked my dog then ran home and grabbed my camera and tripod. This is a 20-second exposure. I caught several planes crossing the sky over the bridge.”
The piece exudes gray and green tones, and communicates eeriness when they are coupled with clouds and the light’s reflection. Beneath the structure in the water lies a perfect reflection of the bridge, and boats lay quietly in the water. The usually bustling condominium and apartment complexes are sleepy and quiet. The streetlamps give off green light, and a raised American flag is still. The angle at which Serko chose to capture the suspension bridge from the bottom up is very impressive, and yields a giant, foreboding scene that is creepy yet simultaneously serene.
A very different scene is captured in the work “Last Train Home.” A winter scene filled with dense, cloudy fog reveals two trains, maybe more, standing immobile on their tracks. The photo gives the impression of being much older than it is, appearing to be a piece from the turn of the century rather than 2009, but a spray-painted smiley face on the back of a train car gives away its age. Leaves and litter cover the tracks and there is not a living soul outside. The outlook is ghostlike, cold and nostalgic to the viewer, and is altogether visually striking and uniquely inventive.
In this show, Serko takes the liberty of emphasizing areas of Tacoma that not every resident gets to see on a daily basis and combines them with those that are quite familiar to many, so that any resident may get a new view on the city they too call their home.
“Feels Like Home” is on view through May 30 at the Grand Impromptu Gallery, located at 608 Fawcett St. Gallery hours are Thursday 4-8 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon-8 p.m., Sunday 2-6 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, call (253) 572-9232 or visit www.grandimpromptugallery.com.
