By Marie-Elena Schembri

Shutterbugs, this one’s for you! April is officially Photography Month Sacramento — as officially declared by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on March 25 — and the city and surrounding region will be teeming with engaging lens-based visual art exhibits and events all month long.

Created in 2018 by Roberta McClellan, executive director of Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Photography Monnth Sacramento brings photographers and visual artists incorporating lens-based practices to the forefront of the visual art scene. While photographic arts have roots stretching back centuries, with the camera obscura emerging in the 1500s and the first light-sensitive processes developed in the early 1800s, photography’s journey to full recognition within the fine art canon has been a gradual one. Yet, the act of creating a compelling image involves complex decision-making and artistic vision, according to McClellan.

“There are a lot of very personal creative choices being made,” she said. McClellan created Sacramento Photography Month to highlight the importance of the art form in our lives, but she also wants Sacramento’s photographic artists to “feel some love” by showcasing their work.

Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, the hub for all things Photography Month, will have two new exhibits in its Midtown gallery. 

“Spring Time Around the World” is a juried group exhibition with an eponymous theme. Showcasing varied perspectives and artistic choices with over 30 participating artists, this show is a great way to experience the breadth of photographic arts. The exhibit opens on April 9 and runs through May 3.

“Barriers and Bridges” is Viewpoint’s student art show, which invites local high school and college students to visually interpret “the concept of barriers — whether physical, emotional, social or cultural — and the bridges that help overcome them.” The exhibit opens April 9 in the smaller Step Up Gallery. A Second Saturday opening will be held at Viewpoint on April 12 from 4-7 p.m., with an artist reception the following day from 1-4 p.m.

Workshops also make photography month exciting, with opportunities to expand your craft or simply learn something new. Viewpoint will be offering two workshops, starting with a technical dive into the world of digital printing. Attendees will be able to utilize the center’s 24-inch large format Cannon printer, with docents available to assist. The 2-hour workshop on April 26 will cover the center’s printing program and all of the details of making a high-quality print, including formatting, paper selection and a review of sample prints. Register here. 

For a hands-on creative option, Viewpoint is offering “The Environmental Portraiture: Telling Stories Through Your Lens with Farrell Scott,” a ticketed workshop ($140 for members; $190 for non-members) exploring the art of environmental portraiture. Participants will learn how to merge technical and narrative aspects to create images that tell a story about their subject within the context of their environment.

With more than a dozen exhibits at participating galleries and additional workshops and public events, McClellan anticipates thousands of visitors throughout the month. Read on for an introduction to selected photography exhibits, and view the entire list here.

Photography Month Exhibitions

Dominick Porras’ “Silvery Synthesis” exhibition at the James Kaneko Gallery (located on the American River College campus) provides a distinct and unconventional approach to lens-based art.

Porras, a Coahuiltecan Chicano community artist based in Sacramento, fuses his indigenous Chicano culture with life experience to create art that defies categorization. His new exhibit showcases photography with mixed media, often repurposing materials in the Rasquache style. “Leftover” parts like old metal 4×5 film holders from defunct darkrooms become frames to present silver-gelatin photographs; a contact strip (used to fine tune exposure for a print) made in the darkroom accompanies each print. Another work — images of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ people harvesting smelt — floats in a hand-made fisherman’s net framed by weathered pieces of wood. 

Porras, whose family originates from the Rio Grande River valley in southern Texas, weaves not just nets, but tales of displaced indigenous communities and the cultural practices and lifestyles  that sustain them. As a former photojournalist, community arts organizer, filmmaker, archivist and teacher, Porras draws from multiple influences to create his photo-sculptural works. Seeking to “embody the disembodied part of culture,” his work highlights the tensions between these communities and the effects of colonization, sharing narratives from time spent with other communities and his own Chicano culture. 

“Silvery Synthesis” opened in March and will be on view through April 18 at the Kaneko Gallery, American River College, with gallery viewing hours Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Another culturally immersive exhibit, “Nuestra Fuerza” at Casa de Español, will feature photography “highlighting the strength and resilience found within diverse cultural identities across Sacramento and throughout the United States,” according to Johnny Walker,

creative director of Casa de Español. Images hail from a dozen artists, including Solving Sacramento freelance photographer Janine Mapurunga, CalMatters visual editor Miguel Gutiérrez and Stockton-based ethnic studies professor Nancy Huante-Tzintzun. 

While showcasing “personal stories, moments of resilience and cultural heritage,” the exhibition is also part of a fundraiser for NorCal Resist, a Sacramento-based nonprofit that provides resources and mutual aid to immigrant communities. The First Friday opening on April 4 will feature an artisan market, live music and refreshments, with donations accepted to benefit NorCal Resist.

Photo Month Mentionables

Check out the Crocker’s ongoing photography exhibit, “Frames of Mind: The Ramer Photography Collection,” and enjoy a humorous and informative tour by comedian “fauxcents” at the free April 3 Fauxcents and Fotos event.

View historic photographs by Eadweard Muybridge inside the Leland Stanford Mansion, where the photographer’s 1870s study of Governor Leland Stanford’s horse led to the famous work, “The Horse in Motion,” and earned him the title of “the father of motion pictures.” Free tours of the mansion take place every Sunday in April and can be reserved here.

Bring the family to the Sacramento Children’s Museum every Wednesday morning in April for a fun photo pop-up event exploring the magic — and science — of the Polaroid camera! This activity is free with admission to the museum, and no registration is required.

Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or simply an art enthusiast, this April offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the creative vision and perspectives of Sacramento photographic artists!

This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics, the city had no editorial influence over this story. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.