Three Photographers — Three Journeys
at
25L Inn Street
Newburyport, MA
November 2 – November 27
OPENING RECEPTION – MEET THE ARTISTS • Nov. 5, 1 – 6pm
Light refreshments will be served
George Disario, Bobby Schatz and Frank Siteman crossed paths over 30 years ago on a busman’s holiday up in Rockport Maine. At first there was curiosity between them, then respect, then friendship, and down the road, even love. They shared their dreams, philosophies and war stories about their take on the state of photography. Over the years there have been times where cares of the world have pulled them apart but not far enough to break the bond. If one of them drifted too far the other two always came together to pull the other back. Time and again they came back together, side by side, as a kind of sanctuary to fill up their tanks.
Three Photographers – Three Journeys is the first time in their 30+ year friendship that their work has hung side by side. It is an honor for all of us at Sweethaven Gallery to host this show.
Before he was six, Bob Schatz’s parents discovered that he had been sneaking his father’s camera, and a neighbor came to the rescue with a gift of a Brownie box camera for Schatz’s eighth birthday. Self-taught, he found the magic of the darkroom when his high school yearbook advisor showed him how to process film and print. In his senior year at Belmont University, he won ‘Best in Show’ at the Nashville Art Directors Guild. Through out his career, Bobby has been drawn to the simplicity of the Shakers and has striven to capture the simple statement, simple line, simple life. You find that same ethic and shape throughout New England. Andrew Wyeth was drawn to the clean lines and softness of light in the Olson house near the coast of Maine. It’s the reason Bobby was drawn to live in Vermont from the deep south.
His clientele includes Time magazine, McMillian Publishing, Honeywell International, HCA, and many others. His artworks have been exhibited around the country and are included in the permanent collections of museums, corporations, and private collectors.
Frank Siteman was raised in Saint Louis, Missouri, where his Uncle Sid gave him a camera when he turned 14. Soon afterward, Siteman was making 50 cents each for shooting portraits of new hires for the school-district’s newsletters. After High School, he enrolled at Tufts University and traded portraits of the faculty for tuition payments, and a free-lance tradition was born which continues today. He graduated with a B.A. in visual communications and in his first year out of college, Siteman taught photography at Boston’s Roxbury Latin School, Simmons College The Orson Welles Film School and the Art Institute of Boston. During his first Christmas break from teaching high school, he unwittingly started shooting for stock during a last minute trip to Morocco. Future trips took him to Iceland shooting volcanoes, to Russia to document life at the transition to democracy, and to Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands to photograph endangered ecosystems.
Over the years, Siteman has shot annual reports for companies as diverse as Thermo Electron, Altana Pharma, and City Year, and has done advertising photos for clients such as Canon, Pfizer, Fidelity Investments and Boston Whaler.
“My intent is always to connect a thread from my life’s experiences to my work. It is the conversation that I have with the rest of the world.”
George Disario came to America from the U.K. when he was 8. He lived on the third floor of a triple decker in East Boston and was an inner city kid. His grandfather was a working artist and made George aware of composition and taught him to see and recognize that light had characteristics beyond volume. It also had direction, color and quality. Eventually he was given a scholarship to the MFA Boston. He didn’t know it at the time but it changed his life.
For over forty years as a commercial photographer, he has been “chasing the light” his grandfather made him so aware of. He has photographed hundreds of campaigns and worked his way around the world several times on behalf of US businesses. One project took him to Nike, Mellon Bank, BMW, British Air and The Bank of China in China. His work is a blend of art and commerce and his job is to create strong, visually compelling photographs every time.