Camera Choreography Exhibition in  the County Administration Rotunda Gallery January 2010

Camera Choreography, the newest  exhibition in the St. Johns County Administration  Rotunda Gallery was created by Florida School of the Arts (FloArts)  students from the Dance and the Visual Arts Departments during a three-week residency with Master Photographer Jack Mitchell.  An opening reception for the artwork will be held on January 19, 2010 from 8:30a.m. to 9:00a.m.  In honor of the exhibit, an original dance by students from The Dance Company, under the direction of Sara Bailey, will be performed at 8:45a.m., prior to the County Commissioners meeting.

An internationally known photographer of dance, Mr. Mitchell worked with the FloArts students in posing and composition, lighting, and photographic techniques using a full a format camera. Mitchell's residency produced an extraordinary body of work that presents dancers and theater majors as they were posed and photographed for eventual use in their portfolios.

Jack Mitchell, a New Smyrna Beach native, began working in New York as a photographer in 1956. His pictures of dancers and art celebrities appeared regularly in the New York Times.  He has furnished covers for more than 100 issues of Dance Magazine.  The exhibition  also contains some of Mr. Mitchell's own photograph’s of the New York City Dance Company.

David Ouellette, former Fine Arts Professor and Gallery Director at the Florida School of the Arts and now teacher at the  St. Johns River Community College-St. Augustine campus, is the guest curator and organizer of this exhibit for the St. Johns Cultural Council.   Camera Choreography will be on display at the St. Johns County Administrative Building from January 8 to April 9, 2009.

The St. Johns County Administration building is located at 500 San Sebastian View in St. Augustine, just south of the County’s Lewis Speedway complex.  The building  is open to the public weekdays between 8:00a.m. and 5:00p.m.  

The St. Johns Cultural Council would like to thank the Florida School of the Arts for the loan of this exhibition. The SJCC is funded in part by a Local Arts Agency  grant from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. For more information visit www.stjohnsculture.com.