Remember the little things

This April seems to be family month at galleries across town. Newspace Center for Photography is no different, with both of this month’s shows capturing the artists’ children growing, playing and just being kids.

New Jersey photographer Elizabeth Fleming’s newest exhibit and first-ever Oregon show is titled Life Is a Series of Small Moments, which documents Fleming’s children growing up. Portland photographer Bryan Wolf has a similarly-themed exhibit titled The Peaceful Outdoors. Both accomplished photographers in their own right, Fleming and Wolf’s work complement each other well as a reflection on our own childhoods, the process of growing up, and the simple things that make life beautiful.

Newspace Center for Photography is not your typical photo gallery. It functions as an end-all, be-all for photographers and lovers of photography. Functioning both as a resource center for photographers and as a gallery space for enthusiasts, Newspace stands out as an organization truly devoted to promoting photography and helping emerging artists achieve their goals.

Running as a non-profit, Newspace is also a photography school, teaching over 35 courses per quarter ranging from beginning to advanced, from technical to the mundane. The Newspace gallery exhibits artists both emerging and renowned on a monthly basis, allowing a plethora of varieties of photography to grace its walls.

Fleming is entirely East Coast. Born in Philadelphia, educated in St. Louis, trained in Brooklyn and now a mother living in New Jersey, Fleming’s images stick out as being entirely relatable. By capturing images of life as it actually happens we find that a more heightened sense of humanity is present in her work.

The idea was to capture the things that a normal parent would never photograph. Things like a pee stain, frizzy hair or a mess left in the kitchen sink. Reflecting on the small things, Fleming is able to paint the bigger picture of what actually makes up the majority of our lives. Moments that a parent would surely forget are the moments most precious to Fleming’s work—whether it is the simple ruffling of a used bed or the left-open refrigerator—these are things we should never forget.

A similar story can be told of Wolf’s work—it too is a reflection and an attempt to capture the little things. Wolf’s work, however, is more aimed at addressing these moments within the outdoors, correlating the peacefulness of nature with the peacefulness of family time.

Wolf has a clear mark on the Portland photography world, serving as a participant of Photolucida and the Portland Grid Project as well as founder of Portland photography group Lightleak. His photos document the curiosity provoked by nature, the world of backyards and the joy of family time.

While a majority of Portland art shows choose to showcase works that cater to a younger and hipper crowd, Newspace’s April exhibits offer something unique and engaging. Both exhibits provide content that is clever and crisp, reminding us to savor every moment not just the ones that stand out.