El Cerrito Photographer Chosen for City Hall's Art Gallery

The latest exhibit at the Gallery Space in El Cerrito City Hall is a collection of photographs that plays on the city motto:

"El Cerrito, City With a View — and other views"

The photographer is El Cerrito resident Dale Mead, who also teaches photography and writes as a freelance journalist. The rotating exhibits for the Gallery Space are selected by the city's Arts and Culture Commission.

Asked by Patch for some biogrpahical background, Mead kindly replied:

"I am a journalist by nature. I got into photography after covering the last manned space flight to the moon in Cap Canaveral, Fla. for the San Jose Mercury-News — the most visually spectacular event I have ever witnessed — without a camera. Once I began I threw myself into it: Photography classes, home color darkroom, a Hasselblad system I later sold for down payment on a house.

"When I quit the Merc-News, I no longer could afford film, developing and printing, so I decided to wait for digital photography—never imagining it would take 25 years.

"I bought my first digital camera in 2000, shortly before my wife Janice and I moved from Cupertino to El Cerrito. Once again I have gotten semi-serious about photography. It has included a little pet photography, occasional contract work such as photographs in the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce map, and 18 months as staff photographer for the Public Affairs Office of the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, in San Francisco. I now teach classes for West Contra Adult Education and belong to El Cerrito Art Assn. and Berkeley Camera Club.

"Given my journalistic instinct to convey reality, I strive not to create extraordinary renditions on my computer but to witness and capture the extraordinary in the real world. My greatest artistic talent probably is being able to get out of bed and on the road two hours before sunrise."

A reception for the photographer and exhibit will be held at City Hall on Friday, May 13, 7-9 p.m. The exhibit ends June 2.