Ocean's Bounty - Dolores Smart
11 x 14 Archival Pigment Print
“My husband and I love visiting the quaint fishing village of Zihuatanejo, Mexico during our cold winter months. I get up early to watch the fishing boats come in and unload their nightly catch. Coolers brimming with fish are quickly upended onto colorful oilcloth tablecloths and spread out for sale. It's all very casual, with bare feet and housewives carrying huge fish home by their gills. This daily ritual is hundreds of years old.”
My passion for photography arrived fairly late in life while returning to college after my children had grown. A course in photography with a darkroom lab changed my life forever. I've been a photographer for close to 30 years, largely self taught. I worked as Graphic Designer, Public Relations Director and Photographer for 20 years at Maple Knoll Village, a large, nonprofit retirement community in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wanting to share my love of photography with others, I introduced photography programs at the facility to the older adults, children in the Montessori Child Center program and to people in the outlying community. To defray start-up costs for a photography lab and studio at the facility, I solicited famous photographers throughout the country to donate a print for a fine art photography auction, which raised over $15,000. To mark the organizations 150th anniversary, I created a 24 hour photo documentary shoot, showcasing a day in the life of Maple Knoll on the exact 150th anniversary date of its founding. Other fun photography projects included an award winning "Personality Portraits" wall -- The Employee Hall of Honor -- a visual tribute to long-term employees, and The Centenarian Wall -- featuring classic black and white formal portraits of the 100 year old residents of the facility.