“Images of Burning Man” Gallery Showing ~ Nevada City Box Office ~ Wednesday through Saturday ~ 12:00pm – 5:00pm ~ Ongoing through March 12

About the Collection

The Nevada City Box Office is pleased to host “Images of Burning Man”, a Gallery Showing by Douglas Hope Hooper.  The Box Office is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.  The collection features long exposures in the dark of night, producing magical images never available to be seen in real time, as the human eye sees.

About Douglas Hope Hooper ~ “Photograph” means light painting. I was born to paint with light.

The creation and meaning of my artwork is a nonverbal experience for me. I admire artists who can speak articulately about their work.  I consider myself to be articulate, but much less so when it comes to my artwork. Additionally, my images are open to viewer interpretation.  Having said that, I do have some thoughts to share:

Photography, and cinema as well, have a power of realism like no other medium.  I love to take that realism, and add a little doubt, perhaps a little fantasy.  We all experience the physical reality around us, and most of us also feel that there’s something unseen beyond reality.  The unseen beyond may be God, spirits, angels, ghosts, aliens, or Halliburton. My joy is to create images which include a sense of reality along with a glimpse of the dreamworld beyond.  I like to play in that narrow zone which has elements of reality, and then something beyond visual reality.

I’m a night owl, which has helped me become a master of night photography. I love the sense of peace and quiet I feel in the middle of the night. I also love the active, wild nights at Burning Man. The night takes me into that creative zone of timelessness which makes art blossom. Long exposures in the dark of night are magical because they can produce images which were never available to be seen in real time, as the human eye sees things.

On a simpler level, I get a visual thrill from beautiful colors, gradations, juxtapositions, compositions, and textures.  As I play with my camera, I see these, and I have a desire to capture and share them.