As long as local photographer Georgina Garcia May can remember, she has always carried a camera. Even today, with a perfectly capable iPhone in her pocket, she isn’t comfortable leaving the house without her trusty sidekick.
“I don’t know if it’s just instinct, but it would be very hard to walk around without a camera; it’s just always been a part of me,” she said. “My dad was the photographer in the family, so I’m kind of following in his footsteps.”
After years in the Lompoc Photographers Guild and participating in group shows, May’s having her first solo exhibition at the Grossman Gallery in the Lompoc Public Library. The show—titled Adventures—is made up mainly of landscape shots of the places she’s been on her journeys around California.
A weekend spent at home is time wasted, the wandering photographer explained, and she’s always looking for a new place to explore.
“I like to drive, so for me, a road trip is like an adventure,” she said. “The places I go often are closer, and I love the excitement of running out the door.”
Photographic day trips are more fun for May when she can share the experience with other photographers, she explained. She often organizes outings with fellow guild members or other photographing friends and enjoys the camaraderie and shared education that happens among a group of artists.
Local subjects featured in Adventures include La Purisima Mission State Park, Montaña de Oro State Park, Monarch Grove, Morro Bay, Cayucos, and others. Longer road trips to Los Angeles and Yosemite National Park provided several of the shots featured in the show as well.
“Hopefully people can go and see the show and take a moment to look at each photo, and hopefully, that inspires them to photograph,” she said. “People have told me that, after seeing my photography, that they start going on trips, and some of them end up going farther than me!”
Arts Editor Joe Payne is ready for an adventure. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 7, 2015.
