Plumas Arts

Two Woman Photography Exhibit

On the Website for Martha Flynn Photography you can read the following quote: "It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Taking photographs is like drawing with light. Photographs are pictures that stir memories, evoke feelings, inform, tell stories, and record history."

The October show at the Plumas County Art Gallery on Main Street in Quincy will offer you an opportunity to see how two different women from two different corners of Plumas County use the photographic medium to express their individual photographic visions.

The public is welcomed and invited to attend the opening reception on Friday, October 5th from 5 to 7pm for photographers Betty Bishop from Chester and Martha Flynn from Quincy.

For more information contact Plumas Arts at 283-3402.

Betty Bishop was born and raised in Chester, attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Sociology. Ten years of living in various places made her miss the mountains, so she and husband Ed moved back to Chester in 1977, and raised their family.

In 2000, Betty bought a Nikon N80 camera and began making photographs. She believes good photo opportunities are every where, in grand landscapes or everyday objects and familiar places, and finds that the very act of taking the pictures can make you look at ordinary things and familiar sights in different ways.

Bishop is a self-taught photographer that has preferred to remain with traditional photography shooting in both color and black and white film. She feels that shooting black and white, where the main concerns are light and structure, has helped her improve her color photography."

Martha Flynn' s passion for photography began in her high school years. At the time, packing a camera in her backpacvick was not at all uncommon. She has always been intrigued with sharing stories and finding creative visual ways to tell them.

Initially, Martha entered the photography business by opening Plumas Sights & Sounds and Lassen Sights & Sounds. Both stores specialized in photography equipment, photo processing and film sales. It was not too long before she realized that she did not just want to sell the equipment but that she wanted to be behind the camera capturing the images.

Flynn began the journey to become a professional photographer by enrolling in various photography schools. She studied portraiture and high school senior photography with West Coast Schools at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. Then she went on to study wedding photography at Golden Gate School and then on to study photojournalism at the University of Nevada in Reno.

Schooled in traditional photography she now works with client friendly digital photography. Every year she attends classes to help me keep up with the constantly changing technology.

"Over the past 25 years I have photographed many subjects but people are my forte. Capturing their diverse personalities and emotions brings me the most enjoyment as a photographer. I understand that I must be flexible and always expect the unexpected. I believe I have become in tune when photographing the unique story of each individual.