Red Wall Portraits II Opens At the Red & White Gallery This Saturday from 3-6 p.m.

F or the 2020 International FotoFest Biennial event, Joan & Jerry Herring exhibited more than 200 photographs at the Red & White Gallery of visitors to the gallery in front of its vivid red walls. That show, with print sales going to help build the Fayetteville Community Center & Performance Theater, started off as an enormous success on opening night before the country shut down three days later for Covid and the show closed. Now, the “Red Wall Portraits II” exhibit opening this Saturday from 3-6 p.m. is a continuation of the community-focused photography project.

“There is something about the light under our front awning,’ Jerry explains. “The way the light is reflected there makes for soft, almost portrait studio lighting.” Linda Stall, writing for the Fayette County Record in 2020, stated: “The exterior of the building is metal, its surface sculpted to look like stone, which adds texture to the background. The portraits have a joyful sizzle.”

Joan and Jerry Herring have been photographing locals, patrons, visiting artists and dignitaries in front of the building’s iconic red wall for the past 11 years. More than 650 portraits have been taken and will continue to be taken (quite possibly at the exhibit’s opening). The actual number of people photographed, given some portraits are of couples or groups, is approaching 900. “Thank goodness for digital cameras and iPhones,” Jerry adds. “When Joan and I started out taking pictures with film cameras there were 36 images to a roll of film. With film and processing, the cost could be $25 a roll. We often take 36 digital pictures of a person just warming up.”

“Some people will tell us they do not want, or like, to be photographed, but later comment they love how they looked in front of our building. One person even said it was the first photo of themselves that they really liked,” Joan says. “We don’t pose people; we just ask them to be natural and by the time they agree we have already taken a dozen shots. It is a lot of fun for us, and we hope for our subjects as well.”

The opening should be a fun time whether you are seeing yourself or your friends on the gallery walls. Saturday, Nov. 15, from 3-6 p.m. at the Red & White Gallery on Fayetteville’s Square. All print sales will again benefit the Fayetteville Community Center & Performance Theater. www.redandwhitegallery. com.