The Joseph Frazz photography show opened this Sunday with a reception at the Wyckoff YMCA for the exhibition which runs thru August 15th. Area residents had a cool place to gather in the afternoon and share the inspiration offered by Joe’s unique approach to canine portraits. Friends of RABRI were represented, along with John Moroski who added to the festivities with music and song. Joe is donating a portion of the proceeds from his book, Good Dog – a book of friends, to RBARI – the no-kill animal shelter in Oakland, NJ.
Unlike the work of the famous photojournalist Elliott Erwitt , who’s dog photographs are now showing in Philadelphia’s Michner Museum, Frazz’s images capture a greater sense of sentience by removing the human factor from the photograph. Frazz’s style might be closer to Mercury Megaloudis, who won the 2008 Australian Portrait Photographer of the Year based on his dog portraits, but the comparison is based only on their sharing the portrait genre. Megaloudis evokes an Old World sensibility with a formal, staged setting.
Joe’s photographs capture a sense of Americana in the bold colors and unique expressions on his subjects. They follow in the tradition of portrait photography, but they exhibit qualities of freedom and spontaneity that are lacking from the offerings of other artists. As America holds the title for highest dog population, there’s little doubt that the quality of Joe’s work will soon be gaining national, if not world wide, attention.
Joe’s book GOOD DOG! is available for purchase online via ebay, or at the RBARI shelter in Oakland. You can contact Joe Frazz at frazzzz@mac.com or 973.476.2358.
John Moroski, who along with his wife, are dedicated supporters of RBARI, performs Pop, Folk, and New Age Music throughout the area. He performed recently at the RBARI birthday celebration, and his presence at the photography reception was an added bonus for folks. There was even a little bit of dancing going on. John can be contacted at jmoroski@optonline.net