WVU music professor David Bess, who is developing a second career as a photographer, is presenting an exhibition of his photos at Slight Indulgence II now through the end of February.

There will be an opening reception on Monday, Jan. 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.

The 37 photos in the exhibition include landscapes from all over West Virginia, as well as some from Pennsylvania.

“The photographs in this exhibit represent my inner journey from a world governed by fear, mandate, judgment and illusion to a world of peace, love, beauty and creativity,” Bess said.

“I wish to thank Laurie Nugent and Penelyn Peterson of Appalachian Gallery for helping me to select photos for this show and for matting, mounting and framing most of the pieces in the show. I also wish to thank David Berry, Jodie Lewis, Jeanne Frieben and Natalie Buckley for their assistance, as well as my friends at Slight Indulgence II for giving me this wonderful opportunity. Finally, I wish to thank my wife, Cyndi Bess, for her help and support.”

Bess is currently associate professor of music education at WVU. He previously served as chairman of the Division of Music from 2000 to 2007 and coordinator of the music education program from 1995 to 1997. Prior to coming to WVU, he spent nine years as a high school band director in West Virginia.

Bess has always had an interest in photography. He served as a yearbook photographer at Berea Community High School, as publicity and group photographer for the West Virginia State Baptist Camp, and won first-place awards for his black-and-white portraits and landscapes at the Kentucky State Fair.

He estimates that he produced more than 10,000 8×10 photographs in his darkroom during his high school years.

More recently, Bess has taken student portraits for the Division of Music’s popular recruitment calendar, as well as providing a number of photographs for the College of Creative Arts’ publications and websites.

His photos have been displayed and sold in solo shows at Slight Indulgence II in Morgantown and at the Deep Creek Lake Gourmet Shoppe in McHenry, Md. He also does work as a wedding and event photographer.

Bess teaches digital photography in the WVU Community Arts Program. In fact, his current exhibition features a photo by one of his former students, Tiffany Oppe, who took the “Introduction to Digital Photography” class instructed by Bess last fall.

“I am grateful that my former student, Tiffany Oppe, allowed me to put one of her outstanding photographs in this show.”

Registration for Bess’s spring semester digital photography class is going on now. The class is designed to help students get the most out of their digital cameras and will focus on basic skills, equipment, lenses, focusing, ISO, depth of field, shooting modes, lighting, composition, and basic editing on the computer. The six-week course for ages 13 and up will be held Thursdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m., April 8 through May 13 at the Creative Arts Center. Students interested in registering for the class should call the Community Arts Program office at (304) 293-4841, Ext. 3168 or 3185.

Slight Indulgence II is located at 3200 Collins Ferry Road in Morgantown and is open Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information about the exhibition, call the College of Creative Arts at (304) 293-4841, Ext. 3108.

-WVU-

01/18/10

College of Creative Arts on the Web – http://www.ccarts.wvu.edu/

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4841 ext. 3108, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu