SHEPHERDSTOWN — Local photographer Mark Muse hosted an opening reception event at the Shepherdstown Public Library on Friday, where guests could come and enjoy some of his work.

Muse had the opportunity to talk about his work and bring people together for a fun and relaxing community event.

Muse grew up with an interest in photography and the arts. Both his parents enjoyed painting and creating beautiful landscapes through their work, so the visual art came easy to Muse.

Though he never got into painting himself, in high school, Muse started experimenting with taking photos. He built his own dark room and started developing photos and prints. He’s been doing photography ever since.

One of Muse’s inspirations for his work is the natural landscape all around him. He enjoys capturing that beauty and letting others see it through his photos.

“I grew up in west Pennsylvania, where there was a lot of open land,” Muse said. “I started noticing the appeal of trees and the color of a winter field and wanted to capture that. There is a lot of inherit beauty people don’t often see throughout the landscape.”

Though Muse enjoys hosting events and sharing his work with others, that isn’t the reason he enjoys photography. For him, it’s about satisfying a need to create. Being able to share his work is just the icing on the cake.

“This practice is normally a solitary pursuit,” Muse said.

“I do it for myself. I think it’s important for people to understand that if you do something like this for the wrong reasons, you won’t last. You must do it, because it’s something you enjoy.”

As guests came to enjoy refreshments and look at his work, Muse had the opportunity to talk about his work. Many of his photos took advantage of fog to make certain trees stand out.

Though most of his photos classify as straight photography, which captures the subject in detail, Muse also experiments adding texture to some of his photos and takes scanner images of flowers. However, he chooses not to change the picture too much but to capture the real beauty found in nature.

During the event, guests could also purchase some of his work if they found something that interested them.

To learn more about Muse and look at more of his work, visit his website at https://markmusephotographs.com/Welcome.