Upstate artist John Lever loves things great and small – especially things he can photograph. His upcoming exhibition, “Supersize or Super Small: A Photographic Journey,” set for Dec. 2 through 30 in Gallery II of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg, highlights his latest images.
“This show ranges over the scale of pictures from macro to micro – big landscapes to real close ups,” says Lever, who lives in Duncan, South Carolina, and has been a member of ACS for about six years. “It is really about my attempts to stretch myself photographically. For example, this is the first time for me to exhibit a seven-panel version of a triptych – either a ‘septiptych’ or a heptaptych or, best for me, a polyptych. Another is capturing motion at the Criterion, the downtown Spartanburg bicycle race that happens each spring. The show also will include some of my favorite subjects – wildlife and landscapes.
“The main message of the exhibit is that photography beyond the iPhone is fun and can be aesthetically enjoyable,” he adds. “Nothing against iPhone cameras; it is just a different world.”
Lever says his main inspiration for the exhibit came from a trip out West to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, but he also credits his friends at ACS.
The show features a wide variety of photographs, he says. “Some with beautiful natural compositions, some wide views of the world, some speedy shots – and maybe something completely different.”
He wants viewers to “get some inspiration to get out in the world, then maybe they will become interested in taking a few photos themselves.”
The more than 20 pieces in the exhibit will be available for purchase, with prices ranging from $50 to $500.
Lever, who has exhibited at ACS many times, also can be seen at the Tulip Tree gallery, adjacent to the downtown restaurant on Spartanburg’s Morgan Square and at Kindred Spirits on Sparing Street, also downtown.
“There’s nothing like ACS in the region that does what we do,” says Lever, who worked in industrial chemistry for nearly 30 years before retiring. “It’s a great place for collaboration in the arts.”
A graduate of Tulane University, he received a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and has lived in the Spartanburg area for 37 years.