A portfolio worth a thousand words
Luis Pena
Waking up at the crack of dawn to go through bushes and mud and get
chased away by a swarm of bees may seem like a headache to some, but
to one photographer it’s just part of the passion.
Daily Pilot photojournalist Kent Treptow made waves when his photo
essay, “Wild at heart,” was published in the paper in January. The
paper received calls and letters from readers saying they were
astonished by his photos. Among the impressed was Dennis Baker, a
board member of the Newport Beach Naturalist and Friends and a member
of the Newport Beach Arts Commission.
Part of Baker’s job as an arts commissioner is to promote art
within Newport Beach, and when he saw Treptow’s work, he saw more
than just a newspaper. He saw photographs that crossed over into fine
art.
Because of the quality of Treptow’s work, Baker helped to arrange
an exhibit featuring 10 of the photographs to be held at the Peter
and Mary Muth Interpretive Center.
“I was going to make a couple of pretty pictures for my parents
and that’s all that was going to happen,” said the modest Treptow.
Treptow said he thought it would be a challenge to shoot the Back
Bay’s wildlife. The photo project ended up taking him a year from the
first click on his Nikon F100 to the last.
“The coolest thing about it for me is that so many people seem to
get so much joy out of it that they’re taking an interest in the
bay,” said Treptow, who took the photos within an hour of sunrise or
sunset so that he would have the best natural soft light.
Steve McCrank, photo supervisor at the Daily Pilot, said he
admires the “heart” that Treptow put into the photo essay and that it
showed the depth of his talent.
One of the images that stands out most from Treptow’s essay is of
an osprey, a bird of prey. In the photo it has one of its wings
spread and a fish in one of its talons.
Treptow would get up before dawn and kayak into the bay to set up
the shot to avoid scaring off the bird.
“It was so much work, I never thought I was going to get it,”
Treptow said of the six months it took to get that single shot.
Another standout photograph is one of cirrus clouds, which Baker
calls an opportunity picture because Treptow was able to see
something happening as an artistic moment. The photograph shows
clouds mimicking the curves of a mustard plant. The photograph is so
rich in quality that it is now part of the Newport Beach Arts
brochure, Baker said.
“A talented person creates the photograph in their mind, they know
what they are looking for or they have a good enough eye for art to
recognize the picture when they see it,” Baker said of Treptow.
Limited edition prints of Treptow’s work will be on sale with 30%
of the proceeds going to the Newport Beach Naturalist and Friends.
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