Meet & Greet on Saturday,  4 May from 11-12. The show runs 1-30 May 2019, at the Alexandria Library.

“Anyone who has watched the sunrise or a rainbow form knows that sometimes there are only fleeting moments to witness the extraordinary.”

Barbara Lehtiniemi has an eye for the overlooked and the unusual.

She will exhibit a collection of her photographs during the month of May at the Alexandria branch of the SDG Library.  This is her first solo exhibition of photographs; most have never been shown publicly before.

“There are so many extraordinary things, especially in the natural world, but it’s easy to overlook objects we pass by every day,” says Barbara.  “A change in the light or a change in perspective—crouching down to see something from a different angle, for example—can elevate the mundane to the fascinating.”

Barbara has been interested in photography since getting her first camera—a Kodak 110-film camera—40 years ago.  She began getting serious about photography a dozen years ago when she acquired her first DSLR camera, a Nikon D40X.

The first public showing of Barbara’s photos was in February 2019 at The Show at Brent’s Place in Alexandria, organized by the Glengarry Artists’ Collective.  The four photos she exhibited there also appear in this exhibition.

Her photos, which include heritage buildings, nature, tractors, and trains, are printed on a variety of materials, including canvas, wood, aluminum, and acrylic.

“Finding the right print medium is part of the creative process,” says Barbara.  Photo-editing is part of the process too, but she prefers a light hand when editing. “Some of my photos are straight out of the camera, but others have been creatively enhanced to bring a bit of whimsical colour to every-day scenes.”

Barbara tries to have a camera with her at all times so she can capture things in the moment when they’ve revealed some of their magic.  This exhibition represents a few of the extraordinary images she’s captured in the almost 40,000 photos she’s taken to date.

Everything is Extraordinary, an exhibition of photos by Barbara Lehtiniemi of Glen Robertson, runs at the Alexandria Library, 170A MacDonald Blvd in Alexandria, from May 1 to 30. For opening hours, visit www.sdglibrary.caor phone the branch at 613-525-3241.