Photographs by Leonard Seeve will be on view in the Community Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts.

SPRINGFIELD – Photographs by Leonard Seeve will be on view in the Community Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts from September 14, 2005, through January 8, 2006. The exhibit will open with a reception and the opportunity to meet the artist on September 14 from 5-7 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public. Community Gallery exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts are sponsored by The Republican. Seeve intends his photos to be viewed as studies in shape, color, and texture. The subject matter almost always plays a secondary role. Buildings and bridges often emphasize a stark geometric structure; natural scenery serves as a foundation for experimentation with color and focus. "Photography has always fascinated me," he said. "On the one hand, it is the visual medium that can most closely mirror reality. On the other hand, a photograph can be much more than a faithful copy of the world around us." Seeve began taking pictures more than 40 years ago, but became frustrated that he couldn't achieve on paper what he saw in his mind's eye. He explained that the advent of digital imaging rekindled his passion for photography and liberated his art "from the tyrannical chemistry of the darkroom" by helping him achieve "the disconnected subtlety of not-quite-reality." Len Seeve is a psychiatrist living in Amherst, Mass., where he is an active member of the Pioneer Valley Photographic Artists. Since winning first prize in the Valley Portfolio 2001 photography exhibit, his work has been shown at several locations in the Pioneer Valley area, including the Jones Library, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Franklin Medical Center, Edwards Books, and Baystate Medical Center Gallery, as well as at the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro, Vt.