SUFFOLK COUNTY, Long Island (WABC) — It took hours of intense hands-on time with a camera – and then came the stunning portraits.

Incredibly detailed photos of men and women incarcerated in a drug treatment program.

While their faces convey their troubled past, something much more profound appears in the shots that photographer Saskia Keely hopes will tell a story and restore their dignity.

The award-winning photojournalist volunteered to lead a four-week long Dignity Photography Program in Suffolk County Sheriff’s Addiction Treatment Program.

That program has provided a boost to many.

Joe, originally from Glen Head in Nassau County, was arrested for DWI several years ago, and enrolled in the program.

That’s when he and 24 others discovered the 4-week long experience.

“It made us just feel human,” said Shannon, a nurse from Shirley, who violated her probation on a previous DWI charge. “You didn’t feel like you were in jail for that hour that we were outside taking pictures.”

Their photos have launched an exhibit in the lobby of the Suffolk County Jail.

“They’re just not men and women who are in jail who are downtrodden or beaten up,” said Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon. “You can see that there is some life and there is some hope in these pictures.”

“If you knew their upbringing, you’d understand at least partially why they did the things they did,” said Joe.

Shannon describes her experience as liberating.

“I learned to love myself and put myself first,” she said.

This exhibit will remain in Sheriff’s Office lobby until the end of this month.

The sheriff has also announced that the program will expand to the jail in Riverhead.

ALSO READ | Rockefeller Center ride soars visitors 800 feet above NYC to recreate iconic photo

———-

* More Long Island news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube

Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News

Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – Gov. Andy Beshear and first lady Britainy Beshear are inviting Kentuckians to lend their creative talents for the next rotation of the Team Kentucky Gallery, located in a main hall of the state Capitol in Frankfort.

The Beshears have said there is no better place than the Capitol to highlight Kentuckians’ voices as represented through art, and the spring 2024 exhibition will showcase photography exclusively. Entrants are encouraged to highlight Kentucky’s people, architecture and natural beauty, but may also submit photos that showcase their choice of lighting, composition and other purely artistic qualities.

Selected photographs will be displayed for a six-month rotation in the Capitol and on the Team Kentucky Digital Art Gallery, where the photographers can provide additional information. After the rotation, photos will be returned to the artists. The current rotation runs until Jan. 9, 2024. The next rotation will begin Jan. 10 and run until June 30, 2024.

The deadline to submit artwork for consideration for the spring 2024 exhibit is Wednesday, Dec. 20. Photos will be selected by Friday, Dec. 29, and photographers will be notified shortly thereafter.

Photo Submission Requirements

–Photographers may submit one photo for consideration.

–Photographs should be framed.

–Photographs must have a minimum framed size of 14 inches by 16 inches and can be oriented either portrait or landscape. Artwork cannot exceed 48 inches in width. The maximum allowable depth is 4 inches, and the maximum weight is 25 pounds.

–The following information should be included with the submission: photographer’s name; address, including city and county; phone number; email; title of artwork; and size of artwork (including frame). Photographers can also include a URL if they have a website where their art is displayed.

–Photographers may note whether the artwork is for sale. Photos will not be sold as part of the Team Kentucky Gallery, but interested buyers will be able to contact artists for information about a sale once the artwork is returned.

You can submit digital copies of your photo using the application on the gallery’s website.

British photographer Stephen Pemberton, who goes by NorthernPixl, has demonstrated how determination, preparation, and good luck can result in beautiful night sky photographs. When photographing auroras in early November, the photographer was treated to a rare night sky phenomenon called STEVE.

On November 5, NorthernPixl captured incredible images featuring brilliant northern lights, the Milky Way, and STEVE, which stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. Combining these three elements in a single night of photography is exceptional and unusual.

“There had been some prior warning there may be an active aurora, and the skies were forecast to be clear, so I headed to my favorite place on the Northumberland coast, the Bathing House at Howick,” he tells PetaPixel. “It turned out to be the best Bonfire Night display I’ve ever witnessed.”

Bonfire Night is an annual holiday celebrated in Great Britain and some Commonwealth nations on November 5th. It is typically marked by bonfires and fireworks. Nature provided NorthernPixl with plenty of fireworks this year.

While photographing the auroras, which is spectacular enough in and of itself, the photographer saw a bright white trail directly overhead, passing in front of the Milky Way. He initially dismissed the trail as the result of passing aircraft but gave into the curiosity that it could be something else and took a test shot.

“On the back of the camera, there was a vivid red and white stripe running the length of the image. It absolutely took my breath away. I knew immediately this was incredibly rare to see, and it was beautiful,” NorthernPixl tells My Modern Met. “The contrast from one side of the line to the other made it look as though there were two skies separated by a tear in the sky. I’m incredibly lucky to have captured the image, and it’s hands down the best photo I’ve ever taken.”

He got a lot more than one shot that night, and he tells PetaPixel that he actually had to decrease the colors in his favorite photos because the colors were so vivid that they “looked fake… That’s how bright the aurora was that evening.”

“It was my first time witnessing STEVE, but I’ve been lucky to have captured the aurora a few times. I’ve even captured a faint aurora from my bedroom window! I’m extremely fortunate to live where I live in Northumberland. Northumberland is a spectacular place to visit and explore, and that doesn’t stop even at night. It has designated dark sky areas such as Kielder and along the coast at places like Embleton,” says the photographer.

STEVE, named in late 2016 by Canadian aurora observers, is caused by a wide ribbon of hot plasma at a specific altitude — about 280 miles (450 kilometers). While not rare, it has long been very poorly studied. Anecdotal observations date back centuries, although research papers concerning the phenomenon have only begun cropping up in the last few years.

Like every enthusiastic astrophotographer, he operates at unusual hours. “Thankfully, my family are very understanding. If an alert comes through and there’s a clear sky, my wife knows I’ll be off out and home late.”

Sometimes his family joins him on his photo adventures. “We all share a fascination with the night sky and what we can see. My son and daughter both love the night sky, and we’ve been known to take blankets, lay down and watch meteor showers, or stay up past bedtime to spot the ISS whizzing past.”

As so many photographers know, images like NorthernPixl’s do not come easy. Even when the conditions are perfect, astrophotography is very challenging.

“Astrophotography can be a very difficult area to start in, but it doesn’t have to be. I have taken night photos for a couple of years now and I’m always fascinated with the results. The camera picks up so much detail that when processed in the right way, it can reveal galaxies our eyes can’t pick up. I’ve still got a huge amount to learn, and there are some incredible photographers that capture galaxies and nebula with a camera,” NorthernPixl explains.

“It’s trial and error when I’m out. Through experience I know roughly the settings I’ll need and I adjust them from there. I’d love one day to be at that level of the professional photographers, but for now, I’m just enjoying every minute of it. The difficulty with astrophotography is the amount and cost of equipment.”

NorthernPixl uses a Sony a7 IV and Samyang 14mm f/2.8 manual focus lens on a “basic” tripod. He hopes one day to add a sophisticated star tracker and telescope to his kit, which will enable him to capture photos of distant objects and shoot longer exposures while maintaining tack-sharp, pinpoint stars. Still, he admits he is “nowhere near that stage.”

NorthernPixl is trying to turn his passion for photography into something more than a hobby. His photography journey has been quite a tumultuous one.

“I had a DSLR for a number of years but stopped taking photos about 10-11 years ago as I needed to sell all my camera kit. I didn’t pick a camera up for years but through my old work, a customer kindly gave me an old Ricoh film camera. It sat in my cupboard for a couple of years, and then COVID hit,” the photographer says. “I was stuck in the house and finding I couldn’t cope with the massive change. I knew I needed something to focus my attention on, so I decided to use the film camera. I loved it! It was amazing to get out with the camera, even just for local walks. I found I had fallen back in love with photography, so I decided to buy a digital camera and a couple of lenses.”

Photography has had a significant impact on NorthernPixl. “Since getting the camera, I’ve done things I would never have expected. I’ve hiked over the Cheviot three times, explored remote areas of Northumberland, walked 22 miles of the Devon coastal path in one day, and done two 25-mile charity hikes for Macmillan.”

“None of this would have happened if I hadn’t picked that film camera back up.”

Beyond learning the ropes of astrophotography, the photographer recently bought a telephoto lens and is honing his wildlife photo skills. He has even done a few weddings and family portrait sessions. “I just love getting out with my camera, it doesn’t matter what the subject is.”

“Photography has opened my eyes to what we have around us; we are so lucky to be in Northumberland. I know there are a lot of people who, for whatever reason, don’t have the ability to get to the places I can, and that’s a massive factor in why I share my images. I’m a huge advocate for Northumberland and kind of see myself as an unofficial ambassador for the area. We need to protect our dark skies so future generations can witness the same spectacular displays that we do today.”

NorthernPixl would “love to organize groups to join me on walks and teach them about their cameras while taking in spectacular scenery or wildlife encounters.” More information about his recommended walking routes and prints is available on his website. NorthernPixl’s work is also available on Instagram and Facebook.

Image credits: All images © NorthernPixl

German photographer Sandra Bartocha has been making fantastic and ethereal nature photography for many years and is among the most creative landscape photographers working today. PetaPixel chatted with Bartocha about her interesting techniques, artistic vision, and the importance of authenticity in photography.

Bartocha Has Always Carved a Unique Path in Photography

“I think I’ve been photographing kind of all my life because my dad was a photographer, so I grew up with cameras,” Bartocha tells PetaPixel over Zoom. “But I would say that intentionally, not just for fun, I joined my dad in the darkroom when I was with the scouts, so around 14, almost 30 years back now.”

As a teen, Bartocha got so serious about photography that she wanted to study it in university. Ultimately, she did not get into her desired photography program, which she says results from numerous circumstances.

For starters, “It’s very difficult to get into these universities. In Germany, it’s not about the money; it’s much more about spaces. It’s about nine spaces for 1,200 applicants.” Back then, the internet wasn’t accessible to study how to create the perfect photo portfolio and college application. “Nobody in my village could tell me how a portfolio for a university should look. So I was really naïve.”

Beyond these limitations, Bartocha says that nature photography was not a focus of educational programs at the time, a blind spot that persists in many photo programs today. “So I think my chances of getting in were limited in any case,” she admits.

Undeterred, Bartocha continued onward, eventually becoming an au pair in the United States in 1999, where she then learned of the work of Minnesota-based photographer Jim Brandenburg.

“He got me into this kind of thing that emotional photography is much more important than the actual perfect frame with his 90-day project, Chased by the Light, where he just took one picture a day in Minnesota. And I was so impressed by that just going out and deciding what is the decisive moment and what kind of picture should I take? And I think with this concept in mind that I’m going away from the normal representation of things or documentation and much more about feeling how I feel the atmosphere of places.”

Technique and Artistic Expression

This emphasis on emotion and atmosphere has long tied in with Bartocha’s distinct photographic approach and technical skills. Since her analog origins, Bartocha has worked with multiple exposure photography techniques. In fact, PetaPixel began speaking with Bartocha because of her ongoing push to get Nikon to bring back RAW image capture with the Multiple Exposure feature‘ in its latest mirrorless cameras.

Bartocha explains that using multiple exposures allows her to “tackle different problems that the camera couldn’t do” using a single exposure. For example, when photographing flowers, Bartocha may want a layer of the frame be sharp, in-focus flowers, but need the rest of the image, including the background, to be soft. This is not always possible by utilizing shallow depth of field in a single frame. By combining multiple images, it’s possible to control the look of different areas of the image independently.

“But it was always a very strong part of deepening the information that I have in front of me and using it as a way of either tackling technical limitations of the camera or then going on creatively and seeing or capturing something that I see inside,” the photographer says of multiple exposures.

With analog cameras, the technique required a lot of manual calculation, much of which is handled automatically by digital cameras these days. However, the ability for Bartocha to determine what she wants an image to look like before it is created is as important now as it ever has been.

“I want to control everything… I like the classic way of layering structures or objects over each other,” she explains.

Much of Bartocha’s photographic approach, especially with multiple exposures, is similar to classical painting techniques, where the artist built a scene one layer at a time.

“[My work] is very impressionistic and I love Monét, but I just listened to a Monét podcast and everything that they said about him and how he approached the landscape, well, I was feeling a hundred percent the same.”

Capturing the ‘Feeling’ of Nature

Bartocha’s latest book — which is truly superb — is called Rhythm of Nature and the idea of translating a sort of natural resonance of the world into photographs is apparent throughout not just the new book, but Bartocha’s entire body of work.

“I love the way that nature makes me feel,” Bartocha says. “In a way, it allows me to get away from everything else that bothers me.”

While some people may just get out into nature to relax or look at pretty things, Bartocha absorbs the world through an artist’s eyes. As for what she looks for, she says she’s “very drawn to patterns and structures.”

One of the most challenging aspects of nature photography is not actually finding the scenes, although that is hard, but using the appropriate tools and techniques to translate how a scene looks to the eye into a beautiful image.

When discussing how a photographer can develop a personal style, Bartocha says, “I’m a firm believer that you just really have to listen.” While the photographer was talking about how someone can find their artistic voice by understanding themselves on a deeper level, this general sentiment applies to so much of Bartocha’s work and what makes it so special. Her nature photography reflects her ability to “hear” nature.

That may seem like an excessively romantic way of thinking about photography, but it is likely relatable for many artists, photographers included. Especially with landscape and nature photography, some of the most powerful work goes beyond mere documentation or hyper-realistic depictions but manages to capture the emotion of a moment within a scene.

Practical Advice for Photographers

While Bartocha does not feel up to the challenge of leading workshops, as she believes that photography is an inherently personal endeavor, she does have plenty of actionable advice for photographers looking to improve their skills.

The most important advice is that there is significant value in learning to be more observant of surroundings. Many of Bartocha’s most impactful images are not of expansive vistas or grand landscapes. Instead, they focus on the smaller, quiet moments in nature that are no less beautiful.

Further, exposing oneself to fantastic art by others is a great way to learn, although Bartocha warns against trying to copy or repeat someone else’s work. If a photo is not born from deep personal feelings, it can be challenging to succeed.

“And I just am generally interested in things because out of this comes curiosity, and out of curiosity comes a way of that you maybe want to create images around a certain topic and then your style will evolve alongside that,” Bartocha adds.

When she looks at what makes a lot of her peers successful and tries to explain her success, a common theme is that the best photographers are strong in their convictions and stay true to themselves.

This may seem like obvious advice, but Bartocha believes that a significant part of her success has come from charting her own course in photography, something that has been an essential part of her growth as an artist since she first picked up a camera.

Her father was a photojournalist whose work differed greatly from Bartocha’s. She was not accepted into her desired educational programs. She has not traveled the well-trodden path of workshops and tutorials that have long been significant income sources for professional nature and landscape photographers.

Sandra Bartocha marches to the beat of her own drum, and the photography world is better for it.

Image credits: All images © Sandra Bartocha. While her website is under construction, more of Bartocha’s work is available on Instagram, Flickr, Facebook, and YouTube. Her books are available on Lys Publishing.

Her photography workshops allow the women to foster connections with one another.

“At that time, I got to experience the camera in a whole new way, by seeing it as a tool for dialogue, understanding, and transformation,” she told Daily Voice.

After returning to the US, Keeley vowed to continue serving populations that in her eyes have been “deprived of humanity and dignity.”

“I have focused my work on empowering individuals in the US who are uncertain about their future because of their past,” she said.

Her mission has since taken her prisons across Mexico and the United States, including right here on Long Island.

Over the summer of 2023, men and women incarcerated at the Suffolk County jail in Yaphank took part in a four-week photography class led by Keeley.

The inmates – all members of Sheriff Errol Toulon’s Addiction Treatment Program – learned the ins and outs of operating a camera, all while making portraits “to show the complexity of their stories.”

“This art allows them to move away from the single story, from the stereotype,” Keeley said.

“In these programs, we are looking to support and nurture their self-confidence and self-sufficiency. I believe this is dignity-restoring work. Dignity is achieved when one’s sense of self-worth exceeds their sense of self-denigration or social denigration.”

For their culminating project, the inmates produced self-portraits – along with writings of what they learned during the experience – that will be displayed in the jail’s visiting lobby throughout December.

“I am grateful for Saskia’s program and the opportunity it has given me to develop not only with new photography skills but as a person,” said participant Randy Z.

“It was a journey of self-discovery, empowerment, and a reminder that no matter where we are, our dignity and creativity can never be taken away.”

You can view a sample of the Yaphank Correctional Facility’s photography exhibit on Saskia Keeley’s website and see more of her work on Instagram.

Click here
to follow Daily Voice

Suffolk

and receive free news updates.

A new art exhibit at Historic Smithville Park is showcasing fashion during the turbulent 1960s and the career of a local fashion model.

The Pose: A Sixties Silhouette is on display at Smithville Park’s Workers House Gallery through Jan. 13. The exhibit is a collaboration by Burlington County-based fashion illustrator Lisa Steinberg and photographer Lisa Ingui. It pays tribute to 1960s fashion styles and Ingui’s mother, Cheryl Marie Desch, a Philadelphia-based fashion model of that era.

The exhibit consists of vintage photographs and advertisements featuring Desch that Ingui compiled, plus modern drawings created by Steinberg for this exhibit, who was inspired by the era. 

“The arts are a major contributor to the high quality of life residents enjoy here in Burlington County and we’re proud of the support Burlington County provides to local artists and arts groups through grants, classes, special events, concerts and galleries,” said Burlington County Commissioner Director Felica Hopson. “This exhibit is an example of the creative talent that is flourishing in Burlington County and we’re thrilled to help showcase them.”

Steinberg resides in Delran and works as a professor and director of the fashion department at Rowan College at Burlington County. She is also a visiting assistant professor in fashion illustration at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and the author of “Beginners Guide to Sketching the Fashion Figure” from Bloombury/Fairchild Publications. 

Ingui is a professional photographer and operator of Lila Ingui Photography. She is also a longtime adjutant professor of photography at Rowan College at Burlington County. 

Her mother grew up in Warminster, Pennsylvania, and she was crowned Miss Warminster in 1963. She became a commercial fashion model soon afterwards and worked steadily in the industry until the late 1960s. 

Desch married singer Richie Ingui of The Soul Survivors and the two moved to New Jersey to raise a family. The Medford resident later started an online business that sold vintage clothing, jewelry and accessories. She also refinished antique furniture for sale and continued to work until her death last year.

Burlington County Commissioner Allison Eckel said the exhibit would hopefully inspire more residents to take an interest in fashion design, photography and other creative enterprises.

“This exhibit showcases fashion, design, drawing, photography and the 1960s and its influence on modern artists today,” said Eckel. “It’s a great example of the thriving and diverse artwork being created here in Burlington County, and we’re excited to support the artists who created it.”