Artist Redefines Photographic Memories by Integrating Imagination and an Ability to Rewind

Fine Art Photographer Christine Laptuta returns to Houston for a solo exhibition of her landscape series this month at the DeSantos Art Gallery. The Gallery invites you to preview the collection at a special evening reception from 5:30pm until 8pm on Saturday the 14th of May at the Gallery located at 1724 Richmond Avenue, Houston TX 77098. The Houston Museum of Fine Arts has 2 of her photographs in its permanent collection and this exhibit offers Houston art collectors the opportunity to meet the artist and view additional photographs from her collections.
Christine Laptuta’s desire to not just take a photograph, but to tell a story about an imaginary narrative is what has led to an amazing series of landscape photographs that are more than just a picture of a beautiful forest or valley. Christine shoots with a primitive camera that has a manual rewind that allows her to produce multiple images without frames on one strip of film. Unlike most photographs that are a snapshot of a single moment, these photographs tell the story about a journey she has taken over a longer period of time.

One of her inspirations on memory is a book called Travels with Herodotus by Kapuscinski. The book talks about Herodotus, one of the first historians to travel and record history by way of stories people told and how they were interpreted. The stories demonstrated how people would both hear a narrative and re-tell it and it would never be quite the same .For the author of the book, memory is about man’s struggle against time, against the fragility of memory and its ephemerality and perpetual tendency to erase itself and disappear…” Christine further elaborates on her images…. “In my photographs, I am exploring the notions of time, space, place and the illusion of memory.

About the Artist
Christine Laptuta was born in Toronto, Canada and now lives and works in Portland, Oregon. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors in Painting and Printmaking from York University, Toronto. Laptuta is included in the permanent collections exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Portland Art Museum. She is a recent recipient of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for 2nd place: Nature Category, and was a featured artist for Fotofest’s International Discoveries II exhibition.

The DeSantos Art Gallery is one of only two fine art photographic galleries in Houston and is dedicated to bringing fine art photography, both traditional and contemporary pieces, to the Houston community. In 2003, DeSantos moved into a new location after unveiling a custom constructed stucco and glass 4 story building designed by architect Fernando Brave. The gallery is located in the rapidly evolving artistic community near the Menil Museum, University of St. Thomas, and Houston Museum District. The DeSantos Gallery represents both American and International photographers and prides itself in selecting fine art photographers from the 20th and 21st century regardless of short-lived trends. The DeSantos Gallery also provides art consulting services, education and lectures on fine art photography and provides expert guidance to individual and corporate buyers regarding photography purchases and placement.