Christopher Paparo at the Solarium Gallery, St. James, NY

January 12, 2011      Light from the Shore: The Solarium Gallery at the Knox School, St. James, NY

Light from the Shore, a series of exhibits at the Solarium Gallery, this month features the colorful underwater photographs of marine biologist Christopher Paparo. With an eye for texture, pattern and color, Paparo uses macro photography to treat viewers to images of underwater creatures. His subject ranges from the common to the exotic, including starfish, coral, octopus, and common Long Island bunker fish. The surprise is the detail, intensity and beauty of hues in these aquatic photographs. Sea Star on a Scolymia Coral, (20 by 28 inches) displays a bright red and violet patterned starfish, enlarged more than 20 times its original size. The starfish is posed against a green and orange coral background that provides a counterpoint of pattern and color. The detail is remarkable.

Paparo’s photographs are taken at Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, where he is the senior aquarist. The aquarium features several tanks of both exotic and local marine life. Anyone who has tried to photograph fish through an acrylic tank will understand the difficulties. The success of these works depends on experience and knowledge of lighting techniques for this unique environment. Paparo explains, “By lighting from above, with the flash a distance from the lens, I am able to highlight the subject while maintaining a dark background in the depth of the tank.” He uses a Canon PowerShot G7 in an Ikelite housing with an Ikelite DS-51 sub strobe to capture these underwater images with accurate color and detail. In Bunker, (16 x 20 inches) Paparo captures the silver sheen of bait fish, turning them into underwater gems against a black background. The cropped composition shows a school of synchronized swimmers, stressing diagonal motion. 

Each of the photographs contains its own mystery. Lobophyllia (16 x 20 inches) could easily be a non-objective painting. Full of organic shapes and lines in repeated patterns of otherworldly color, the entire picture plane is filled with this coral colony. Undulating contours create a shallow depth of gently shaded edges, forming ridges and tunnels of coral architecture. Shapes seem to glow with inner light, but the brightness of the colors is natural to this coral.

To view these images and more of Christopher Paparo’s work, visit his website at www.fishguyphotos.com. The exhibit at the Solarium Gallery will be on view for the month of January. Viewing is by appointment only. Contact Susanne Johnson, Gallery Director, at 631-686-1600, or email sjohnson@knoxschool.org. For more information and directions to the gallery, visit: http://www.knoxschool.org/page.cfm?p=473. The next artist in this series is printmaker Beata Kruk, exhibiting in the month of February.