Greenville Magazine - August 2008 - (Page 12) my greenville By alison storm Diane Hopkins-Hughs artwork Courtesy of Diane hoPkins-hughs Diane hopkins-hughs will be having a twoperson exhibition with olof sorensen at the new furman/y space on main street (fyi) in september and october, and her 811 Pendleton st., suite 18 studio will be on the open studio tour in november. ar tistProfile T above: Summer, from series The Four Seasons handcolored silver Print Below: Green Legs handcolored silver Print he peaceful quiet. The smell of sodium sulfite. The absence of light. There’s no question, Diane Hopkins-Hughs’ favorite room in her home is her darkroom. “[Realtors] don’t care for a house with a darkroom attached,” says Hughs. “But we always build one.” It’s there in the darkness where Hughs says her true creativity as a photographer comes to light. “I used to think all of the work was in the image-making,” she says. “But the more I got involved in the darkroom, I realized the darkroom is a creative process also.” Hughs studied art in college and originally thought her calling was the canvas. It wasn’t until Hughs was working for the Army as a civilian employee in the special services program in Europe that she was exposed to photography. “They asked me to supervise a photo lab,” Hughs remembers. “I fell in love with the process.” The Army sent her to a German photographer to learn the basics. Soon after, Hughs set down her paint brush and picked up a camera. She studied under greats like Ansel Adams, Paul Caponigro and Brett Weston. Her first exhibit was in 1970 and Hughs says she has never stopped snapping photos. When Hughs is not behind a camera, she’s usually in front of a classroom. Hughs teaches the foundations of photography along with other courses like art history and design. She has worked at universities in several states, including a 16-year stint at Furman University. While Hughs enjoys teaching and passing on her passion for art to students, her first love is photography. For most of her career, Hughs has been drawn to black and white photography, but the process goes well beyond snapping a pretty picture. There are three parts to the process, including taking the photograph, working in the dark room and adding color with pencils. “Then I silkscreen text on the image,” she explains. “It becomes part of the design, not just words across a page, but it’s an integral part of the design.” As her career progressed, Hughs started using her art as a way to share a message and communicate meaning. The world of photography has seen big changes since Hughs bought her first camera more than four decades ago. Digital cameras have taken over. Darkrooms have been deserted. And Hughs says photography has become too easy. “A lot of people get a printer and a camera and they think they’re a photographer,” she says. “They don’t have a design background. They don’t have a sense of composition. It’s sort of a false security.” Hughs sees benefits to digital cameras and often uses them to capture family events. “I love the speed of which you can get your images,” she says. “It’s wonderful because you can get rid of the stuff you don’t like.” Hughs believes the darkroom will never completely die, even though she admits it’s not as popular as it once was. “I think it’s not popular because it’s too much work,” she says. And it’s there in the peaceful quiet of that darkened room where Hughs says her creativity flourishes and where her art is made. For more information on Hughs, visit her Web site www.dianehopkinshughs.com. Her Greenville gallery is open to the public during the first Friday of every month. 12 Greenville MAGAzine | AUGUST 2008 http://www.dianehopkinshughs.com http://www.dianehopkinshughs.com
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