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ENLARGE
Local photographer Craig Silberman has made a name for himself around here capturing both the Roaring Fork and Crystal River valleys in film. Above is Yule Creek in Marble. A show of his work opens tonight at the Artist’s Mercantile in Glenwood Springs.
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ENLARGE
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Craig Silberman
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Imagine just the right light, vantage point and subject matter — in all, the perfect photograph.
For years, Craig Silberman has been on a quest for that very thing.
“I want to take a photograph where, when I look at it and somebody else looks at it, they get the same feeling I got when I was standing there,” he said.
It’s that desire that’s made him take probably 2,000 photos of the Placita area, close his home near Marble. It’s what prompts him to bring his camera with him always — whether he’s driving to work in Glenwood or hiking through the Crystal River Valley.
You just never know when “that” picture will present itself.
This journey started for Silberman, 47, when he was just 9 or 10. He had had a camera for a while, but when his father built a darkroom, something about photography got under Silberman’s skin. He began developing his own photos, and he saw that he had a knack, a love for capturing images of nature. As he grew up, photography grew along with him. Besides a lull in college, he never let it go. When he moved to the valley from Minneapolis in 2001, he found himself right in the middle of gorgeous, wild country. That’s when his work really took off.
“If you like photography, and you live out here, how could you not always be carrying your camera and shooting it?” he asked.
For years, Craig Silberman has been on a quest for that very thing.
“I want to take a photograph where, when I look at it and somebody else looks at it, they get the same feeling I got when I was standing there,” he said.
It’s that desire that’s made him take probably 2,000 photos of the Placita area, close his home near Marble. It’s what prompts him to bring his camera with him always — whether he’s driving to work in Glenwood or hiking through the Crystal River Valley.
You just never know when “that” picture will present itself.
This journey started for Silberman, 47, when he was just 9 or 10. He had had a camera for a while, but when his father built a darkroom, something about photography got under Silberman’s skin. He began developing his own photos, and he saw that he had a knack, a love for capturing images of nature. As he grew up, photography grew along with him. Besides a lull in college, he never let it go. When he moved to the valley from Minneapolis in 2001, he found himself right in the middle of gorgeous, wild country. That’s when his work really took off.
“If you like photography, and you live out here, how could you not always be carrying your camera and shooting it?” he asked.
Picture perfect
What: An opening reception for a show by local nature photographer Craig Silberman
When: 6-8 tonight. His work will be up through the beginning of July. Where: The Artist’s Mercantile, 720 Cooper Ave. in Glenwood Springs Why? Take a trip into the wilds of the Western Slope — without any chance of getting lost. |
Though his businesses, Glenwood Custom Carpets, keeps him more than busy, he gets out into the beauty around him as much as possible. Clicking through his online portfolio, he showed off vibrant images of a white Mount Sopris, a green Chair Mountain, a bubbling Yule Creek.
This is the kind of stuff that prompted Silberman’s uncle to remark, “Say hi to God for me next time you’re out hiking.”
To Silberman, the thing about these photos isn’t so much that they’re beautiful (What else would you expect in this part of the world?). It’s that they’re thought out. Often, when he’s to going to or
from work, he sees tourists huddled on the side of the road, and they’ll be snapping pictures of the Crystal River or whatever. Just from where they’re standing, he knows what kind of photo they’ll end up with.
“They might love those pictures,” he said, “And that’s great. But what I’m doing is more exacting.”
So, what would happen if all his precision, his caring actually combined perfectly? What would he do if he did find that one, glorious shot?
Funny enough, but “It’s not a hunt I’m worried about ending,” he said.
Regardless how great something looks, he can’t see himself — or anyone else, for that matter — not trying to top it.
“I don’t envision the day when everybody puts down their cameras and says ‘Alright, you’ve taken the perfect picture, we’re all going to stop now,’” he said.
What fun would complete success be, anyway?
Contact Stina Sieg: 384-9111
ssieg@postindependent.com
This is the kind of stuff that prompted Silberman’s uncle to remark, “Say hi to God for me next time you’re out hiking.”
To Silberman, the thing about these photos isn’t so much that they’re beautiful (What else would you expect in this part of the world?). It’s that they’re thought out. Often, when he’s to going to or
from work, he sees tourists huddled on the side of the road, and they’ll be snapping pictures of the Crystal River or whatever. Just from where they’re standing, he knows what kind of photo they’ll end up with.
“They might love those pictures,” he said, “And that’s great. But what I’m doing is more exacting.”
So, what would happen if all his precision, his caring actually combined perfectly? What would he do if he did find that one, glorious shot?
Funny enough, but “It’s not a hunt I’m worried about ending,” he said.
Regardless how great something looks, he can’t see himself — or anyone else, for that matter — not trying to top it.
“I don’t envision the day when everybody puts down their cameras and says ‘Alright, you’ve taken the perfect picture, we’re all going to stop now,’” he said.
What fun would complete success be, anyway?
Contact Stina Sieg: 384-9111
ssieg@postindependent.com
