It’s all about people, motion, color

People, motion and color were front-and-center at an artists’ reception that features photography by Mark Kennedy, Glenn Newland and Jerry Schneider Saturday at Penelope’s Café in La Cañada.

Each of the photographers has his own style. Many of Schneider’s photos are motion studies that feature a person walking briskly, the background scenes a whooshing blur of light and color behind the main figures.

“I’ve always been interested in capturing movement, always enjoyed a painterly kind of style. I’ve felt that the image doesn’t need to be crisp if you wanted to tell a story, the image can show movement,” Schneider said.

Tim Brehm, who hired Schneider eight years ago to teach a class in Photoshop through the Burbank Unified School District’s Regional Occupation Program, said, “what’s interesting about his work is he’s not using any digital manipulation [to create the movement effect in his work] … his photos are taken with a long shutter speed and it’s a straight shot.”

It is a love of color and the combination of colors in a scene that draws Mark Kennedy to make a photograph. Although reluctant to make photographs of people, he was asked to be the photographer at a friend’s wedding. His photograph of a boy, dressed up in a suit, having his lapel boutonnière adjusted, won Best in Show at the 2009 Burbank Library photo contest.

That photo was a breakthrough moment for Kennedy. The photo of the boy at the wedding, titled “All Grown Up,” made people smile, Kennedy said. “That’s what’s important; when I see people’s reactions to it [his photography], some kind of emotion.”

“Old Boat Shed,” a photo Kennedy took in the Caribbean, shows his love of colors. It depicts a boathouse with a door painted lime green that’s peeling, a rusty red door hinge and cornflower blue clapboard siding.

Glenn Newland’s photographs feature profiles of individuals — a San Francisco street performer, an Italian beggar, a middle-aged man at an anti-war protest in 2007.

“I’ve always been fascinated by people, their facial structures, and how they deal with the world around them. I’m drawn to a moment — catching a person … seeing through the armor we put up to see who that person is in the moment.”

Newland, Schneider and Kennedy decided to mount an exhibition together after they each entered the Burbank Library photo contest in 2011.

They searched for a year to find the right place to show their photography. A mutual friend showed them a newspaper clipping about Penelope’s Café as an art venue.

“I really loved the setting [of the café], the homey, living-room-style setting,” Kennedy said.

Newland echoed Kennedy’s sentiments,” I like the casual feeling. [Penelope’s] is not just a coffee shop, not just a gallery. It felt relaxed and lent itself to our [artistic] styles.”

The exhibition lasts through the end of February and all photos, which are set with white mats and simple black frames, are priced at $150.

DETAILS

What: The photography of Mark Kennedy, Glenn Newland and Jerry Schneider.

Where: Penelope’s, 1027 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada. (818) 790-4386.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The exhibit runs through February.