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Staff Writer SOUTHWICK When Lyn Silverstein travels, she travels with her camera to capture the people, architecture and life in the places she visits. "I am on vacation, but photography is an important part of my vacation," she said. Silverstein, who owns a portrait business, Lynovations, enjoys capturing her surroundings on film when she travels and takes pleasure in sharing her experience with others. She is a former elementary school teacher who became interested in photography 30 years ago. She purchased a camera and has her own dark room. She said she has been doing portraits officially for the past 10 years. Photographs from her August 2004 trip to China and Tibet are on display at the Southwick Public Library throughout the month of October. On the east gallery wall, photographs of her trip to Tibet hang on the wall. The west gallery wall takes viewers to China. During her trip to China and Tibet, Silverstein said it was difficult to to take the "perfect photo" because she was traveling with a group. "I would try to do something to make the picture special," she said, adding that she took close to 1,000 pictures during her trip. "I try to capture the ordinary in creative ways," she said. Although she now uses a digital camera, she captured her 2004 trip using slides. When in Tibet, Silverstein took photographs of many of the people. She said that she asked the people for permission first. "I love to photograph people," she said, "It is rude if you just stick a camera in [someone's] face." She explained that even if she does not speak the same language as the people she hopes to photograph, they understand what she is doing when she asks to photograph them. "Most people like to have their picture taken," she said. She said that while in Tibet and China, she saw many people who would have made a good photograph, but said she did not want to exploit them. She said that Tibet and China are very "unusual" places where a lot of people have never been. She explained that the people in Tibet were "wonderful" and many of them invited the visitors into their homes. "They live so simply," she said. "[It] makes you feel like you have too much." She pointed out one photograph that captured a woman who did manual labor. "The things we have machines for, they have manual labor," she said. On the west side of the gallery, Silverstein's photographs take viewers to the Great Wall, to a panda preserve and give a glimpse of the architecture and life in China. She said China is "mammoth" and in order to get from one place to another, she had to fly. She said that she had no idea what to expect when travelling to China and she and the tour group would "stick out like a sore thumb." She added that she has never been stared at so intensely. She added that the hotel gave their guests a business card with the name of the hotel in Chinese so that if the travellers got lost, they could show someone the business card and make their way back to the hotel. Although she took almost 1,000 photos, she said she tried to choose photographs for the exhibit that were a representative sample of the different places. "I am pretty critical of my work," she said, adding that she took many photographs that did not want to use after she looked at them on the computer. "I have a lot I did not print that I thought I'd love, but didn't," she said. In addition to travelling to China and Tibet, Silverstein has been to France, Italy, Spain, England and various Caribbean Islands, where she and her husband photographed total eclipses of the sun. "I love to travel," she said. Silverstein has displayed her art photography in other venues in the past, including the Majestic Theater, the George Walter Smith Vincent Smith Museum, and other libraries. In the future, she plans to exhibit her work at another library and at a local hospital. In addition, her photographs have been used for publication. For example, a photograph she took of farmland in Southwick was used on the cover of the town's 2004 annual report. She said the Southwick Library is a "nice venue to have artwork displayed." "It is a bright and there is enough space to put up a representative sample without having to feel like you have to fill a museum," she added. Silverstein has a diploma from the New York Institute of Photography and is a member of he Connecticut Professional Photographers Association, Professional Photographers Association of New England and the Springfield Photographic Society. Silverstein's work can be viewed during library hours, which are: monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Wednesday from 1 p.m. - 8 p.m. ; Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. | ||||||
