Last fall a new gallery opened in White River Junction, dedicated to “showing, teaching, and sharing photography.” Named PHOTOSTOP, it is the only gallery in the Upper Valley exclusively showing the art of photography. Hanover photographer and teacher Lia Rothstein opened her gallery in response to the recent demise of local photography–related businesses.

Where once every town in the Upper Valley seemed to have at least one shop dedicated to the processing and selling of film and camera equipment, the proliferation of digital photography has made these stores virtually obsolete. As, one by one, these businesses has disappeared, the community of photographers seemed to dissipate as well. By opening PHOTOSTOP, Lia hopes to reverse that trend. “There are few gathering places for photographers,” she says, “and I’m hoping that PHOTOSTOP can become a place for photographers and non-photographers alike to share work, learn about photography, look at excellent and varied photographic work, and discuss the rapid changes that have taken place in the digital era.”

As a long-time teacher of traditional and digital photography at various colleges in Vermont and New Hampshire as well as at the AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, Lia is well suited for the job. She had been a traditional black and white photographer specializing in fine art and portrait photography for much of her career, but now works almost exclusively in the digital realm. She first became interested in photography when pursuing her MFA at Boston University. Before that, she had worked as a textile designer and weaver in both the US and Mexico after receiving her BA in Art History. Her fascination with design, texture, and pattern continues to be a strong influence in her work. Other influences include world-class photographers Joyce Tenneson, John Reuter, Judy Dater and Katrin Eismann who have been her teachers at the Maine Photographic Workshops and the International Center of Photography.

Like most artists, Lia has worn many hats during her career. She has worked as a professional photographer for close to twenty years, showing her work both locally and nationally. As the daughter and granddaughter of art teachers, teaching photography to others has been a long-time passion. She also worked at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business where, as a Photographic Specialist, she was the photo editor for the Tuck Today alumni magazine and was responsible for managing and archiving their extensive photography collections. She also designed a digital asset management program and continues to work with the college on a freelance basis.

It was during her years with Tuck that she made the transition from film to digital work as she noticed that materials, especially some of the wonderful papers for printing photographs, were becoming harder and harder to find. As part of her continuing education, she attended a workshop called “Preserving Photography in the Digital Age” at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. It was attended by other professionals from museums, colleges, libraries and archives around the country.  As part of the workshop, the director of Eastman/Kodak gave a presentation and told the class that “in a few years we probably won’t be making film anymore.” This made a strong impression on all the attendees and prompted Lia to start taking classes in digital photography as she “could see the handwriting on the wall, since these things do have a natural evolution.”  She has worked digitally ever since.

When AVA Gallery and Art Center reopened after an extensive renovation, Lia rented a large studio on the second floor and set up a digital darkroom where she created large, layered, abstract pieces that often seemed to cross the line between photography and printmaking. While most of the images were printed on paper, some were printed on aluminum whose surface she manipulated “to create an underlying texture that would relate to the forms in the photograph, continuing the movement of form in the composition.” These photographs were exhibited in her show, “Interstices,” at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in the summer of 2008.

A year later, the former Turning Point space became available in the Tip Top Media Building. “When I saw the space…I knew it was big for just a studio and realized I could also have some classes there that would augment the kinds of things that are usually available in the Upper Valley. I also liked that the space was next to Two Rivers Printmaking Studio. I love printmaking and see photography as another kind of printmaking process.  I’m excited by the artistic vitality I feel in White River Junction and the opportunity there to collaborate with other artists and organizations. When I saw the street visibility, I immediately thought about having a gallery there as well.” Two months of hard work turned the rough, disjointed space into an elegant gallery of neutral gray, black and white. There are separate areas for teaching, storage, and a windowless digital darkroom where Lia can do her own artwork.

PHOTOSTOP’s inaugural show exhibited selections from Boston photographer Neal Rantoul’s series “Wheat” and drew a large crowd from around the Upper Valley. A gallery talk by the artist during the opening was the first of many planned for the future. This impressive first exhibition was followed by a show of the work of Sara Wright and James Patterson. Lia met Sara during a residency at the Vermont Studio Center last January, and James is a photographer for the Valley News. Their photographs of New England focused on “winter from two different, but complementary, points of view.” Lia liked the “quiet, meditative quality of [Sara’s] work” and thought it would be “a good contrast to James’ work which is much closer (almost in your face) and beautifully composed, thoughtful work.”

From February 5 through March 6, PHOTOSTOP will feature the work of Cynthia Beth Rubin who will be showing digital paintings/collages and an interactive sound and image installation in a show entitled “Memories & Wanderings”. The installation called “Layered Histories: The Wandering Bible of Marseilles,” has been shown in major American cities and in Europe. The show’s combination of digital painting and photography is a major departure from the first two shows at the gallery and will be accompanied by a related exhibit of Lia’s toned, black and white photographs of Auschwitz-Birkenau in the Corridor Gallery. In conjunction with the exhibition, Cynthia Rubin will be teaching a workshop, “Rivers of Pixels: Fluid Animations from Still Images”, at the gallery on March 6.
As 2010 continues, PHOTOSTOP will continue to fulfill Lia’s mission to provide “a place dedicated to showing, teaching, and sharing photography.” Future plans include a possible “photography slam” involving the Upper Valley community, a show featuring photos from the documentary film “Shooting Beauty” in conjunction with the White River Independent Film Festival in June, a regional juried show of train photography in conjunction with the annual “Glory Days of the Railroad” festival, and exhibits of work by renowned photographers Olivia Parker and Jeremy Drummond.  It’s going to be an exciting year at PHOTOSTOP—don’t miss it!

Sharon and her daughter Sue Shepard do not appear to have a lot in common when you first meet them. Sharon is extremely outgoing while Sue is a little more reserved and laid back. Once you get to know them you realize that the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. They both share a passion for baking and helping people that has suited them quite well in establishing customer satisfaction and loyalty at “Shepard’s Pie on The Green.”

The baking part of it shouldn’t surprise anyone once you realize a little more about their family history. They are direct descendants of Charles and Henrietta Fleischmann. Yes, the Charles Fleischmann who revolutionized baking in the late 1860s by creating America’s first commercially produced yeast, which made it possible for mass production and consumption of bread.

When the ingredients list on the side of the box of any prepared food is longer than half an inch I don’t buy it. This pronouncement was the beginning of a grocery store game for my sons when they were too young to sound out words like disodium inosinate or monoglycerides. Rather than dealing with arbitrary decisions like “no” imposed by a tyrant (me), the length of the ingredients list was undeniable. My sons are grown now and my grandchildren play the half-inch game and I still check the length of ingredients lists.

The cracker aisle at the market is a special challenge. The ingredients list for simple, no frills saltine crackers is longer than an inch and includes partially hydrogenated cotton seed oil and high fructose corn syrup. Not what I want to serve with soup made with carrots, onions and dill from my garden and milk from a nearby dairy.

According to the Farmers’ Almanac, hardtack, the predecessor to crackers, originated in New England in the 18th century. It is a simple cracker made from flour and water. Baked hard and dry and stored properly, it lasts forever, or at least long enough to be a dietary mainstay on long sea voyages.

Legend has it that crackers were the creation of Massachusetts’ baker, Josiah Bent. He combined a common kitchen mishap, over-baking a batch of biscuits, with Yankee ingenuity. Inspired by the sound they made when chewed, he introduced the crisp biscuit as a cracker. More than two hundred years later, the G. H. Bent Company in Milton, Massachusetts is still baking hard tack with just two ingredients, wheat flour and water.

Alas, the cracker has changed radically since it simple beginnings. There are whole grain, gluten free, low fat, no fat, salt free, cheese, herb, poppy seed, sesame seed, naturally flavored, and artificially flavored crackers waiting in the cracker aisle hoping for a ride in your shopping cart.

You can turn away from the fancy boxes and follow my half-inch rule if you make crackers rather than buy crackers made by faraway food corporations. You can say no to crackers shipped hundreds of miles, in excessive packaging, supplemented with un-pronounceable ingredients and preservatives and sold at prices that rival designer chocolates. Homemade crackers are delicious, simple to make and won’t make a shocking dent in your food budget.

Crackers can be seasoned and shaped to suit the occasion. Served with local cheese they are an elegant snack. Homemade crackers spread with natural peanut butter will be welcomed with a smile. Rye cheese twigs and a glass of wine say welcome to friends. Here’s how I make them:

Rye Cheese Twigs

I combine half a cup of rye flour, one cup of whole-wheat flour, one teaspoon of kosher salt, a pinch of cayenne, and two tablespoons of sesame seeds in a bowl. I use the large holes on a box grater to shred one stick of cold unsalted butter into the flour mixture and then use my fingers to blend the flour and butter until the mixture looks like coarse sand.

I stir in three quarters of a cup of shredded cheddar cheese and slowly add enough ice water, about half a cup, to make stiff dough. The dough is divided into quarters, wrapped in foil and chilled in the freezer for half an hour.

I use a floured rolling pin to roll the well chilled dough on a floured board to make a quarter inch thick, six inch by twelve inch rectangle. I cut the rectangle into 24 six-inch long strips, put the strips onto a parchment lined baking sheet and stretch and roll them into twelve inch long twig shaped cylinders.

I bake them for ten minutes in a pre-heated 400-degree oven, turn them over and bake them for three more minutes. Cheese twigs are best eaten the day they are made. Crackers must be completely cooled before being stored in an airtight container.

Use whole-wheat flour, semolina, spelt or buckwheat flour, add seeds or spices to suit your fancy. Send me a note—share your success. Remember Josiah Bent!

Carol Egbert lives in Quechee, where she paints and cooks. Her food blog can be found at www.carolegbert.com.