Longtime Mill Valley resident, former co-owner of WIGT Print and Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival board member Barry Toranto has been at the forefront of 94941 creativity for decades.
But as with many creative dynamos, Toranto has a variety of waves to express his creative output. One of those outlets is thrilling, color-laden Windowscape photographs, as he calls them.
“The Windowscapes are each a single exposure,” Toranto says. “Window reflections merge with what is on the other side of the glass. These photographs are not created by layering. Looking through glass is always surprising. Changing the camera angle changes the reflection: shadows change the way the objects show or do not show. Inanimate objects in a window can seem to have personality, as photographs are inanimate and yet arouse feelings.”
“Photography intrigued me as a teenager,” Toranto says. “I attended my first workshop in 1973 at The Naples Mills School of Arts and Crafts near Ithaca, New York. My college career yielded a BA in photography from Goddard College in 1978 and included a semester at the San Francisco Art Institute. I showed at my studio during Marin Open Studios and have showed in local art fairs and venues for many years. My vision is to capture and express images that both embrace and reach beyond the here and now. Photography is an alchemical process – the subject is the raw material, the gold is an image that expresses universal truth beyond that subject, one that makes us think and remember, and ultimately, see the world in a new and different light.
Toranto will be showcasing his work on the walls of the Mill Valley Chamber’s space at 85 Throckmorton Ave., including a reception on Tuesday, Dec. 5, as part of the Mill Valley Arts Commission’s First Tuesday Artwalk (5:30-7:30pm).