Digital boosts interest in local camera club: Photography just one of the media at West Racine Art Walk

By Michael Burke

Sunday, April 9, 2006 2:09 AM CDT

RACINE - Art comes in many forms, including that which is captured with a camera. So it was that the Racine Camera Club came to Saturday's West Racine Art Walk, to show some of its members' work and to scout for possible new club

members.

Kathy Brand explained why the club decided to join the annual West Racine event: "Mostly to promote the club, but we wouldn't mind selling some stuff."

Six or seven members' photographs were on display at Newport Realty ERA, 1020 West Blvd. Saturday. Brand, a Kenosha resident but Racine native, brought some of her photos that she captured when traveling. Her introduction to photography came on an instructional photography trip to the Canadian Rockies with professional photographer Carol Hansen of Racine.

"I had to borrow a 35-millimeter camera," she said.

After that trip, Brand dove into photography. She said she's old enough to get the senior student rate at Gateway Technical College, so she has audited those photography classes multiple times. "I took Introduction to Photography four times and Advanced Photography twice."

Brand said she belongs to the Racine Camera Club, which meets twice a month, "for the camaraderie with fellow photography people.

"If you show your stuff to a non-camera person, their attention is short.

"But with another club person, you don't mind if they show hundreds. Because everyone is saying, `I wonder how they did that?' " Tony Rosati joined the camera club - which started in 1938 - about 15 years ago. He said the advent of digital photography has pumped new life into the group.

"When we were film-based, our membership was going down," he said. "Now membership has climbed considerably. It's kind of cool to see young people in it."

Rosati said he used to concentrate on animals as subjects, but more recently has begun to do more

scenic photos.

Mary Barrows of Mount Pleasant is the club's grand dame, a member since before 1975. "I was the last holdout for digital," she said. "I haven't quite loved it, but I do it."

Being in the club "keeps me shooting," she said. "So I have something new to show them. It's too easy to get lazy and sit around."

Barrows is the club's oldest member, at 80. Like Brand, she has done much traveling with a camera in hand, including 13 trips to Europe. When asked if she travels in order to take pictures, she replied, "I'm not sure whether I travel to shoot pictures, or the other way around."

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