Northstar Gallery

DENNIS W. FELTY

p h o t o g r a p h e r

Dennis W. Felty is a native of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Elizabethtown College. He has been a serious photographer all his life, choosing to keep his art his avocation. The Gallery at the Open Stage presented Dennis’ work as a one man show; “American Icons”. Dennis presented a one man show at the Morrison Gallery Penn State Harrisburg, exploring the humor, irony and insights of images found at Coney Island, NY. Dennis also completed a major photographic work “In Celebration of Children” which captures the vibrant beauty and diversity of the children who attend Capital Area Headstart. This show was presented at the Atrium in Strawberry Square in Harrisburg Pa. and subsequently toured Core States Bank branch offices. Dennis presented a one man show on Streamline Design in classic automobiles at the Miami Design Preservation League MDPL at Miami Beach. Dennis has completed major photographic & video projects in India and Russia for the Evangelical Free Church of America.  Dennis received a Telly award for his work in the Russian Documentary From Tyranny to Truth. Projects have included photographing people living in state institutions for the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Retardation as well as an essay on families using “Family Preservation Services” for the Pennsylvania Office of Children & Youth. Dennis has traveled extensively often visiting in institutions and orphanages in Russia, Moldova, Romania and India. His work has included a photographic essay on the children living in the underground of Bucharest Romania as well as a photographic essay on the terrorist attack at School #1 in Beslan Russia. As one of the founding members of the Open Stage of Harrisburg, Dennis has done extensive theatrical photography for the theater and its actors and actresses. Dennis has also served as Board Chair of the Susquehanna Art Museum. Dennis has also served in many leadership and volunteer positions in other community and professional organizations.

Dennis is an accomplished portrait photographer of children, families and adults in both formal and informal settings. Dennis has studied with Joyce Tennyson, Connie Imboden and Arnold Newman.

Dennis was an Air Force officer and pilot for thirteen years and is Founding President (retired) of Keystone Human Services. Keystone is a family of non-profit organizations that brings over $200,000,000 in resources to the individuals and communities it serves. Keystone provides comprehensive services to children, families and adults in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, the Republic of Moldova and the Republic of India.

Dennis is joined in these endeavors by his wife Barbara, daughter Laura and son Adam and four grandchildren.

Artists Statement

"The contemplation of beauty causes the soul to grow wings."

                                                                                                                   Plato

As an artist, I am continuously awed by the exquisite beauty and wonder of creation and its profound implications regarding man's capacity for transcendence. Within our being, moment by moment, each of us holds the ability to be both hero and villain. Indeed, it is only when we understand and embrace this reality that we can hope to rise above the competing duality, choosing hero. Carl Jung defines man's "shadow" as an inherent part of his nature and as the source of much of man’s passion, comedy, fear, creativity, heroism, striving and transcendence. Since the beginning of his existence, humans have expressed and explored issues of "Soul" in the form of stories and myths which offer clues to the spiritual potentialities of human life. Through the telling and retelling of myths, we evoke their power in our own lives. As a storyteller, images serve as a powerful medium for the exploration and telling of myths and are an important tool in the continuing exploration of man's very nature.

Joseph Campbell observes "One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The blackest moment is the moment when the message of transformation is going to come. Out of darkness comes the light."

This is a powerful force that sets the stage for the exercise of free will and a continuing encounter with the deepest issues of soul. This duality is essential to defining and understanding our nature as an inherent part of God's creation and offers insight into the human condition and man's potential for transcendence.

As a fine art photographer I am interested in making the work of the soul more visible and real, enriching our everyday lives. It is in these moments when our soul speaks to us in a quiet, perhaps even a silent voice - wielding great power and influence at both a conscious and unconscious level.

A primary role of art is to provide clarity and insight into issues of soul as inherent elements of man's role in God’s Creation. As awareness and consciousness increases, so does the clarity with which we are able to perceive the exquisite beauty and wholeness of God's Creation. Ultimately, art acts as both a mirror and a lens that gives presence and visibility to that which previously was unseen, unknown and not understood, often residing in the underground of the conscious.

It is worthy to note that in this endeavor one learns that - the perception of all great beauty always has an element of "strangeness" and in its expression is an opportunity to truly know the perfection of all Creation.

Photography is a universal language and its truths are accessible to all who view an image regardless of culture, nationality, age, language or status in life. The camera is a tool that crosses cultures, breaks boundaries and grants access and connections that are not available through any other means.

In my work as a fine art photographer I seek expression and a deeper knowledge of these issues and in that pursuit a profound experience of being intensely alive. It is here that one’s life has resonance within our innermost being, knowing the intense rapture of life. By following our passion and our bliss and by being willing to enter the "underground", we find paths that have been there all the while, waiting for each of us. The life we live becomes the life we should be living, and one has the opportunity to know the fire of passion and the continuing renewal of the life within. On this wondrous path, the art of photography becomes an instrument of story-telling, spirituality, faith, seeing, knowing, exploration and celebration.My current artistic themes include an exploration of memorial art from around the world including work in Paris, Rome, Milan, New York and Moscow. I am very interested in the role sensuality plays in memorial art and how this work provides insight into man’s struggle with mortality and transcendence. I have also been photographing Coney Island for many years and am absolutely intrigued with the manner in which Coney Island embraces and celebrates diversity and differentness in the human condition. I am involved in projects in Russia, Romania, Moldova, India and China, photographing children living in orphanages, psychiatric hospitals and in the underground tunnels and sewers of Bucharest Romania. Images from Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia reveal the historic prison as "Cathedral". The photographic documentary of School #1 in Beslan Russia where 340 students, teachers and parents were murdered by Chechen terrorists in September of 2004 provides a vision into man’s darkest being. In my professional life as President of Keystone Human Services my encounter with many of these issues was not only as a photographer but we were able to offer help that for  many would lead to a better life.