The Peru Gazette

Shared Responsibilities – 1st Place Winner Nature/Wildlife Category – Professional Division, Best in Show – Professional Division, and People’s Choice Award for the 2014 Annual Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Through The Lens Juried Photography Exhibit

By John T. Ryan

“The Jewels of Lake Champlain,” “Snowy Owl,” Minimalist Sunrise,” and “Shared Responsibilities” are just four of the twenty photographic works by Craig Allen on view through March 31^st at the Best Western Plus Inn at Smithfield. The display is part of the Strand Center for the Arts Off-Site Gallery Program. A Peru native and Peru High School graduate, Craig Allen has been a New York State Corrections Officer for 34 years.

The works on display feature landscape and wildlife photography. Anyone viewing Allen’s photographs will likely agree with his remarks in the show’s pamphlet. “Sharing intimate perspectives of the nature that surrounds us all, everyday, is a quiet satisfaction that is not easily expressed in words, nor is it meant to be. It is the photographer’s hope, and vision, that his images simply speak for themselves.”

Allen travels throughout the northeastern United States to practice his skills. Photos from as far away as Maine’s Acadia National Park are on display. Still as Allen explained, “Most of my photographs are right here in our own back yard. Some are taken on the Vermont side of the lake; others are taken as far north as the Chazy and Champlain area.” The Ausable Point State Park on Lake Champlain, not far from Allen’s boyhood home, is one of his favorite locales. 

The Jewels of Lake Champlain – 1st Place Winner Still Life Category – Amateur Division, Best in Show – Amateur Division for the 2013 Annual Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Through The Lens Juried Photography Exhibit

Allen’s interest in photography began in his youth. At about 8 years of age his father, Peru High School Counselor Ron Allen, introduced him to a black and white Polaroid camera. At Peru High School he learned darkroom techniques from teachers John Hotchkiss and Judy Corigliano. Several years later he took a semester-long course at Clinton Community College. A local professional photographer has also been a longtime friend and mentor.

Visitors to the Smithfield Boulevard display should enjoy Allen’s close-up, often-dramatic photographs of birds. Photography of this nature requires an intimate knowledge of animal habitats. Allen explained, “The more you study the biology of animals the more you realize that they’re telling you things. More clues are revealed to you about when something magnificent is about to happen.” Allen often waits five or six hours in freezing temperatures for that memorable magnificent happening.

While Craig Allen will undoubtedly always love landscape and wildlife photography, he plans to expand into portrait photography. He possesses all the needed professional equipment and accessories. He would like nothing better than seeing his work in a local publication.