Vincent Frazzetta and River Arts invite the public to the opening reception for his solo exhibition in the River Arts West Gallery, Friday, Sept. 6, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The exhibition, running through September 18, will offer a wide range of black and white images of marine, interiors, Mainers, abstracts, a few documentaries and a special corner of the gallery with several of his tender BarbaraAnne/Alzheimer’s series images.

Frazzetta’s photographs are made using traditional methods: film cameras and hand processing film and prints, and as he says, “the tactile and deliberate nature of the traditional film process, and for me, black and white images cut to the essence of the subject.” His photographs creatively record their subjects in high-contrast compositions, often with ironic or complex features. His wife’s images are documents of courage and humor, as she struggled to make a good life with a terrible diagnosis.

Though late to photography, for Frazetta it is a joy and a passion.

“Choices in photography abound, and I have journeyed through cameras and themes, and from color to monochrome. I am now firmly settled on the challenges of black and white film photography; processing and printing at my Damariscotta darkroom,” Frazzetta said.

A prolific reader and photographer, he is most influenced by the NYC work of Maine photographer Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans’ Farm Security Agency projects, and David Plowden’s splendid photographs of contemporary rural and working America.

Frazzetta has shown locally in Boothbay, Damariscotta, Bristol, Wiscasset, Bath, Brunswick and Bowdoinham since 2006.

He received the Ike Royer Memorial Scholarship for Traditional Black and White Photography (Maine Media Workshops) in 2009, and was published with a Juried Award, in B&W Magazine, in February 2012. www.vincentfrazzettaphotography.com

The mission of River Arts is to nurture and encourage participation in the arts throughout the region of Midcoast Maine by providing exhibition, studio and performance spaces, classes and workshops, for people of all ages and abilities and support a wide range of activities in artistic disciplines by partnering with other arts and performance organizations to produce program.

River Arts is located at 241 US Route 1 (north) in Damariscotta. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

For information about membership and the many exhibitions, classes, events and opportunities at River Arts, visit www.riverartsme.org, call 207-563-1507 or stop in.