Reba Craig is a local freelance photographer who produces color and black and white prints using natural light. Much of her work is on display at the House of Stereo’s art gallery.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SNAPPING PICTURES?
“I’ve only been in photography for about three years. It was something I wanted to do for a long time. Finally, the day came time to stop thinking about it and do it. It just started out as an idea of something I would enjoy doing. What happened was every time I picked up a camera, I felt like I was totally in love.”
WHAT SUBJECTS DO
YOU USE?
“I really love nature; it’s my favorite thing. I’m an outdoors person more than an indoors person. With anything in nature, there is a particular time for a particular pose. Memories fade, but a photograph doesn’t. I also photograph children but I don’t do a toothpaste ad smile.”
WHAT APPROACH
DO YOU USE?
“I like to capture people in their own environment because most people are stiff when you want to photograph them. If they are where they’re comfortable, you can capture the essence of the subject. Back to nature photography, if you’re an impatient person, forget it. You may have to wait 45 minutes to an hour for a spider. If he hears a little noise, he’s gone. But if you wait patiently, they’ll come back, more often than not, to that same spot. Sometimes you don’t get the shot at all.”
WHY PHOTOGRAPH NATURE?
“To me, this is the real world. There is nothing phony about a flower. There’s just something that hits you. It’s almost like it’s staring at me. Once you make that contact, you have to photograph it. It beckons you.”
WHERE DID YOU
LEARN THE ART?
Craig credits much of what she has learned to National Geographic magazine. She has also taken all of the photography classes offered at FCCJ. “I love that magazine. Their manual on photography is my bible. I go back and read parts of it several times a week. My aspiration would be to get my work in National Geographic. That would be my Academy Award.”
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR SHOW AT THE GALLERY?
“I was told about the place and that once and a while he [the owner Bill Gibson] would hang works by local artists. I called and asked for an appointment. I didn’t have a clue what he liked. I came in here hoping to get one picture hung. I brought in seven photographs. He kept looking and then he said, ‘I can’t decide, so I guess I’ll have to hang them all.’ I didn’t have 40 works at that time.”
ARE YOU REPRESENTED ANYWHERE ELSE?
“I do plan to take my work to different places — galleries and shops. I’ve found from my show that there is a market for what I do, that people do like nature and beautiful things.” She will have another show at the House of Stereo art gallery next fall.
WHY SUPERIMPOSE IMAGES IN SOME OF YOUR PIECES?
“You can only do so many birds that people like [referring to a multi-image picture of two herons, flowers and a vase]. I’ve tried to get the animals I like into different forms that people will like. You’ll find one thing that sparks you but you’ll need other things to go with it so you go out to photograph other things. You don’t have to go that far out. I wade out into marsh areas with wading boots. It’s finding things you have and combining them.”
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY?
“Seeing the finished print; when you can see every tiny detail in print that you can’t see with the naked eye. There’s only a certain time that a flower can truly be photographed. Just at the moment when it reaches full bloom, that’s the moment it’s perfectly fresh. That’s when I try to get it. That’s when it looks total alive.”
WHAT’S MOST CHALLENGING?
“Making sure I have captured my subject the way it truly looks at that special time. If you don’t get the light in an animal’s eyes, they look dead. Finding that right light without a single flash is a challenge. If you have a vision of something and you can make your vision happen on paper, well that’s my reward.”
IS THERE AN UNDERLYING THEME TO YOUR WORK?
“I look at what I do in nature as perfection and beauty. Nature, in its own right, is perfection and beauty. Flowers, butterflies, herons — they really are perfect creatures. I love the way they look.”
ROOTS
Born in the Midwest, Craig now calls Arlington home. She and her husband Richard have one son, David.
HOBBIES
“I used to do a lot of gardening, but photography has just consumed my life and taken over. When I have a few moments, I like to write poetry and music.” She also enjoys love stories, comedies, nature shows and hiking.
WHAT OTHER WORK HAVE
YOU DONE?
“I worked as a sales manager, teaching people how to sell. When I lived in California, I worked in the film industry doing bit parts, some movies, commercials and some print work. I still belong to all the unions.”
— by Monica Chamness