Artist sells work for the SPCA
World-renowned impressionist photographer Eva Polak is putting her money where her art is – donating all proceeds of a
new exhibition to the SPCA.
Walking the Dog, which opens at Auckland’s Te Karanga Gallery on April 4, is a collection of Polak’s painterly images of
dogs, captured in poses varying from inquisitiveness to sheer exuberance.
It’s also a celebration of the life of her beloved photo shoot companion, Chucky, who died last year [2010] after a
six-year battle with epilepsy.
“For the past three years I have been taking dogs’ photos while walking Chucky,” says Polak.
“Dogs are so free and joyful, always frolicking around and enjoying themselves. I aimed to capture that playfulness,
joyfulness and freedom in my photographs.
“Sadly Chucky died in May. This exhibition is a celebration of Chucky as a great companion on my photo shoots.
“And because he gave me so much joy and love I would like to somehow give back. That’s the reason I decided to donate
the proceeds to SPCA.”
Polak will also publish a book of her photographs of dogs to accompany the exhibition.
Impressionist photography, like impressionist painting, seeks to capture the emotional essence of a scene, rather than
attempting to give a realistic presentation. It uses in-camera techniques, rather than computer-aided manipulation to
achieve its effects.
Polak uses no computer manipulation in her images.
New Zealand’s leading impressionist photographer, Polak has shown work at Colorado’s Center for Fine Art Photography.
She has also been published in Practical Photography, on digital-photography-school.com, and has produced two books: At
the beach, a collection of images; and Impressionist photography techniques, outlining ways to use your camera for
painterly effect.
Her work has been included in many group exhibitions and last year she held her first solo exhibition, Tides of Light,
at Devonport’s Art Space gallery. Polak has run workshops on impressionist photography with NZ Photography Tours and the
Photographic Society of New Zealand.
Walking the Dog opens at Te Karanga Gallery in Auckland’s Karangahape Rd at 6pm on April 4 6pm-8pm, running until April
13. Opening hours are Mon 12-6, Tues - Friday 10-6, Sat 10-4. Entry is free.
All proceeds of sales during the exhibition will go to the SPCA and donations to the SPCA will be collected at the
exhibition.
ends