Location

Topping Room at E.P. Foster Library
651 East Main Street
http://www.artwalkventura.org/topping-room.html

Description

Charles Levin
As a photographer, I look for moments that might otherwise go unnoticed in the flurry of our daily lives: quirky, emotional, intimate. They can be colorful, monochrome, beautiful, ugly, busy or minimal. In some, there’s an obvious story; in others, the viewer concocts their own. But when it works, there’s an immediate visceral reaction. My work has spanned many genres but mostly focuses on street photography and urban scenes and, sometimes, musicians.
 
I have been making photos for about four years, spurred by a Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis that that ended a music career. Photography offered a wonderful medium to harness my creative energy. My instructors include Monica Furmanski, Bill Hendricks and Greg Cooper. I enjoy and find inspiration from many photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Art Kane, Lee Friedlander, Richard Avedon, Ansel Adams and numerous other lesser known — but equally talented — shooters found on Instagram.

Sandwiched between my 30 years playing music, I spent 15 years in newspaper journalism (1993-2008), including eight at the Ventura County Star. I am the co-author with Joe La Barbera of “Times Remembered: The Final Years of the Bill Evans Trio.” (University of North Texas Press, 2021).

My photographs have been featured in juried exhibits by the South Manchester Camera Club (England), The Chateau Gallery (Louisville, KY) and Decode Gallery (Tucson, AZ). My photos of the Los Angeles River, shot for an Instagram Takeover for @lariverx, are in the permanent collection of the Western Water Archives of the The Claremont Colleges Digital Library. I am a member of the Park West Camera Club and split my life between Ventura, Calif. and New York City, NY.