Amy Schmidt Stowe

Artist’s Statement

“To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.”   —William Blake, from "Auguries of Innocence"

Taking inspiration from landscapes, nature or a portion of the whole, my photography seeks to evoke significance and transcendence within the ordinary. Watching the interplay of light and shadow, capturing places that draw one’s mind forward and through, seizing a moment, or examining the detail of an everyday object, I focus on the possibilities that lie in each shot. As Blake so aptly describes, I hope the viewer experiences the promise of the divine and transformative world around them in these simple images.

Photos were taken with a variety of cameras: Minolta SLR, Canon PowerShot and Galaxy 23 phone camera.

Artist’s Bio

Photography came naturally to me, as there were always cameras available as I grew up. But on the first day of my junior year Photography class, Ann Clancy, PE and Photography teacher, handed me one of her Nikon cameras and told me I could return it when I graduated. Exploring the world using and developing black and white film, getting comments and criticism on my work, finding shots that touched something inside me, as well as being loaned a $1,000 camera grew confidence in my “eye” and ideas about what components created a good picture. As yearbook editor senior year (1971-72), I convinced the class to use the formal, seated graduation pictures for the cover and have only informal pictures in the senior section. Controversial – yes, but the class thought it was perfect!

For many years after that, my photographs were mostly perfunctory and meant to document our history—vacations, birthday parties, holidays, the garden, children’s faces with missing teeth, special family events—but every now and then, there was a shot that resonated deep within me and gave me a glimpse of the interconnectedness between the image and something bigger. While I still take photos as historic documentation of our lives, I work to heed the call to look deeper, to find that of the eternal in each photo.

An artist’s reception is scheduled for Sunday, July 20 from 1:30-3:30 PM in the Lyceum (17801 Meeting House Road, Sandy Spring, MD 20860).

The Lyceum Gallery is open during staff office hours (10 am-4 pm Tues-Fri), Sundays 9 am-1 pm, and by appointment (301-774-9792).