Press Release: [Meet the Artist] Galen Hayes, Digital Photographer

Posted by Lloyd Purdy on 10 September

Downtown Oregon City’s newest event Arts in Action…Fueled by Coffee Rush is part of a first Friday event series that highlights the creative process of area artists. Galen Hayes a digital photographer is a Three Rivers Artist Guild member participating in Arts in Action…Fueled by Coffee Rush on Friday October 2^nd, in downtown Oregon City.

Galen is currently working on a series of abstract photos with a process called fractal photography. There’s actually no camera involved. Galen works through a digital process using software and mathematical equations to manipulate an image. In this process he works with a graphic display of math. Lines and shadows are treated as numbers and combinations. Galen is an artist who “puts together the math part.” It’s a fairly new technique with the technology less than 5 years old.

“It’s different and strange, yet beautiful – it’s intriguing,” said Galen as he described the result of his recent work. Galen is also exploring infrared photography. He uses a camera that has been converted to capture light waves the human eye cannot see “I’ve always wanted my photography to look like something other than photography,” said Galen, a clinical coder at Willamette Falls Hospital “Using infrared photography I can really explore a scene.”

When describing his creative process Galen looks through the viewfinder to frame a shot. He may take 30 to 40 shots of the same composition. With this product to work with he applies his creative process to the “post capture” process.

Galen focuses primarily on landscape and urban settings. This week he is embarking upon a trip to Western Montana to photograph landscapes. His subject matter will be mountains and glaciers. He will also visit old ghost towns in western Montana and capture the architecture. “What I shoot has a life of it’s own,” said Galen. “As I spend more time with a place or setting I begin to see things that I normally wouldn’t see.”

“Downtown Oregon City’s Arts in Action event is an opportunity for me to share with people what I do as an artists, my process, the equipment I use, and maybe help people come to a better understanding for photography,” said Galen. “It’s a chance for people to understand the value of art. The value art adds to life.”

Galen’s work will be on exhibit downtown through January 2010 at 702 Main Street in the Pilates studio as part of a group exhibition sponsored by Pilates with Fe. Join us Downtown on October 2^nd for Arts in Action…Fueled by Coffee Rush and explore the world of photography with Galen Hayes.

Downtown’s first First Friday event Arts in Action…Fueled by Coffee Rush is sponsored by Coffee Rush at 900 Main Street in downtown Oregon City. Arts in Action…Fueled by Coffee Rush is produced as a collaboration between the Three Rivers Artist Guild and the non-profit Main Street Oregon City. The Oregonian newspaper has also signed on as a Downtown Oregon City First Friday series’ media sponsor.

What’s Happening Where from 4-7pm on Friday October 2:

Live Music and Featured Artwork at Winestock at 820 Main Street.
Arts in Windows Exhibit at 900 Main Street Suite 104.
Art in Windows Exhibit at Fournier Group at 814 Main Street.
Meet the Artist at Busch Furniture at 804 Main Street.
Featured Artwork at Mi Famiglia at 701 Main Street.
Meet the Artists at Pilates with Fe at 702 Main Street.
Art in Windows Exhibit at ECP Copy at 623 Main Street.
Live Music and Meet the Artist at The Caufield House at 723 Main Street.
Art in Windows at Madco Draperies and Floor Coverings at 818 Main Street.
Twenty Five Artists showcasing their talent and creative process at Coffee Rush at 900 Main Street.