Luminous Landscapes by Photographer Nick Jacobs

Luminous Landscapes by Photographer Nick Jacobs
A new show of work by Nick Jacobs is at the library in Cornwall, Conn., until April. 
Photo by Nick Jacobs

Nick Jacobs has been a fixture in Cornwall, Conn., for many years. Never seen without his camera, he often bops around town with his manual portable typewriter in his Volvo station wagon. Speak with Nick for a moment and you’ll feel like you’ve been let into a new way of seeing the world. He has an appreciation for the absurd and the ironic, but is also deeply sensitive to the beautiful banalities of life. His subjects often seem basic: a vintage kitchen fan, the chrome typewriter handle reflecting sunshine, clouds, the top branches of a tree catching the late-day light, but the way Nick sees turns everything into works of art.

A new exhibit of his photographs at the Cornwall Library is an opportunity for us  to view the world with new eyes. The show opened Feb. 26 and remains on display until April 9.

The images in this exhibit are predominantly landscapes taken in two places: the Coltsfoot Valley in Cornwall Village and under the concrete spandrel highway bridge that crosses the Housatonic River in Cornwall Bridge.

Like many Cornwall artists, Nick finds peace in the stunning nature of the region. He writes, “Often at sunset I walk in the Coltsfoot Valley … and I’ve shot many photos there, in sunshine and shadow and in the serpentine fogs that can roil their way slowly north from where they originate at the far end — very possibly the result of descending katabatic hillside winds.”

Jacobs has worked as a commercial photographer in New York City, with emphasis on fashion and jewelry; and, later in Connecticut as a garden and human interest photographer for White Flower Farm and various magazines.

He has worked as a photojournalist in Brazil, France, Ireland and Ukraine — photographing children suffering from the after-effects of the Chernobyl disaster. Locally, he has taught at the Brookfield Craft Center. He lives in Cornwall Bridge.

The name of this new show is “The Isles of Langerhans,”  which is not actually a geographical region, rather a biological one. It’s where endocrine cells live in the pancreas, named for the German doctor who discovered them. As previously mentioned, Nick sees the world in a unique artistic way and decided to employ this poetic-sounding title for his “body” of images.

The show can be seen during library hours. To learn more, go to https://cornwalllibrary.org.

Latest News

Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less