At the Beach

An Italian beach scene

When oppressive heat waves like we have been experiencing strike, thoughts often turn to the refreshing breezes and cool waters of the ocean. Well, if you can't get to the shore, the Corcoran Gallery of Art is providing a vicarious day at the beach with its new exhibition The Deep Element: Photography at the Beach.

Featuring more than 40 works, the show includes both color and black and white photos from the 19th Century until today.

The exhibit takes its title from a poem about the complex nature of the ocean by Adrienne Rich:
The sea is not a question of power
I have to learn alone to turn my body
without force
in the deep element.

There are shots from many of America's most famous beaches - Coney Island, Venice Beach, Key West, Palm Beach, Martha's Vineyard. Europe is represented with beach scenes from England, France, and Italy. Noted artists such as Andy Warhol and Gordon Parks have contributions.

Swimwear gets revealing

Most all the favorite beach activities are pictured. Sun bathing, sand burying, surfing. The photos can also serve as pop history lessons. You can see the evolution of beachwear over the years. In a photo of a snack stand at Manhattan Beach, food prices stood out. Don't think you can find a hamburger for 90 cents or a soda for 30 cents today. As former residents of South Jersey, a shot of a crowded 8th Street beach in Ocean City propelled us back to happy summers spent in that seaside resort.

But the exhibit also featured several shots capturing the natural beauty and majesty of the ocean and its beaches even when humans aren't present. One such work was the mist shrouded crags of Torbjen Rodland in Norway. Another was a large work of 3 photos by Rentae Allen, who has been picturing the same single site of the coast of Long Island for years.

"The ocean is a point of reflection and meditation ... We, as spectators, on the scene are here, yet we are able to project ourselves somewhere else," Allen writes.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips

The Beach Bumz blast Barbara Ann

Normally, the Corcoran charges an admission fee, but in the summer the gallery is free on Saturdays. The institution also schedules special programs for its Summer Saturday series. Yesterday, the band Beach Bumz performed sets of Beach Boys classics which definitely added to the experience as we viewed the beach scenes as a creative way to escape the 105 degree temperatures outside.