THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170031
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROY A. BAHLS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
WHEN TOM FISCHER focuses his bulky large-format camera on his favorite subject, he's not only after a pretty picture.
His black and white silver gelatin prints reveal his concern for the fragile beauty of where water, land and man meet.
``Wetlands - they are not highly appreciated,'' Fischer said. ``It's easy to preserve Yosemite, because all you have to do is look at it to know that it's an exquisite place. But a swamp on the back roads of Georgia is another story. Yet it's very valuable.''
Fischer's ``Waters of the Southeast,'' which consists of 40 individual prints and multipaneled panoramas, is on view through May 27 at Nauticus.
The traveling exhibition won the 49-year-old artist and professor at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia the 1995 Regional Designation Award in Art from the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. It's also part of the U.S. Cultural Olympiad leading up to the Olympics.
In the early 1980s, Fischer was fortunate to be under the tutelage of one of photography's greats, Ansel Adams.
``I went up and studied with him for a couple of weeks in Yosemite,'' Fischer said. ``Then he hired me as an assistant at his workshops.''
The experience gave Fischer inspiration and taught him how to get his work more widely exhibited. He also became a devotee to the fine quality prints that can result from working with 8-by-10-inch negatives.
After Adams' death in 1984, Fischer went on to receive his master of fine arts degree at Stanford University and photograph industrial and residential development of the California coastal wetlands. His subject matter didn't change after he moved to Georgia.
``I've always had this kind of fascination with the water-influenced landscape,'' Fischer said. ``I came to the realization that there's a lot of danger to our environment through the loss of wetlands.''
Fischer appreciates the importance of these marshy areas, which provide critical habitat for wildlife and maintain water quality by filtering polluted stormwater.
Man's influence can be found in many of Fischer's images. It may be an overhead bridge, a weathered dock or a piece of trash influencing the serenity of a scene.
``Most of the pictures have evidence of human usage,'' Fischer said, ``and sometimes it's almost horrific and other times it's very intelligent and beautiful.''
But what happens when man trashes these sensitive areas?
``I think the land is often scarred by us,'' he said. ``We do make it difficult for ourselves. ``In the short term, it's fine; in the long term, it's disastrous for us.''
Fischer teaches his students to express their beliefs through their photographs. He would also like people to live more in harmony with nature.
``My pictures are not specifically political,'' Fischer said. ``I try to make beautiful pictures wherever I go. I'm a photographer that is dedicated to truth and beauty at the same time. So I try to get them both into the same picture.'' ILLUSTRATION: B\W Photo by Tom Fischer
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