Local Artists Highlight New South Brunswick Gallery Exhibit

Three South Brunswick artists are highlighted in the newest exhibition at the municipal art gallery, which opened last week.

"Through the Camera’s Eye,” an invitational exhibit running through Oct. 2, allowed photographers Bob Ambrosio, of Dayton, Michael Derer, of Kendall Park, and John Sandstedt, of Dayton, to bring different perspectives to the gallery.

Ambrosio, who retired from Wall Street to focus on photography, said his pictorial of the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia left him with an eerie feeling.

"I had no idea what I was going to see when I walked into those old cells," he said. "I knew I was going back in time to 1829 when the prison opened. I went into one of the cells and sat on the floor for about 10 to 15 minutes to try and get a feeling of what it was like to live in an 8x10 cell. But I also knew I would be going home for pizza afterwards."

For his pictorial, Derer, a former staff photographer for the Associated Press, used a theme of nature scenes. Derer's work is no stranger to Patch readers, as his outstanding photographs of the South Brunswick High School football team captured the squad's historic run last year.

“I have chosen to do a series of photographs with the theme of water in several of its forms…rain, snow, ice and dew," he said.  "As usual, my inspiration is drawn from things I see around my yard.”

Sandstedt said his "interest in photography goes back more than 60 years when I took my first photos with a Kodak Baby Brownie."

Also featured in the gallery is the work of Plainsboro photographer Bill Hoo.

This program is funded in part by Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission with assistance thru a grant provided by New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State.

The Gallery is open weekdays, Monday to Friday, 8:30–4:30 p.m. and evenings when meetings are scheduled. For more information, contact South Brunswick Arts Commission, 732-329-4000 ext. 7635, arts@sbtnj.net, or www.sbarts.org