The Zachary Branch Library is hosting an exhibit from local photographer Cathy Gabel. 

Gabel, who has been featured in the Photographic Society of America Journal, styles most of her photographs in her Kitchen Sink Studio. She uses everything from thrift store bowls to Mardi Gras cups (really!) as backgrounds for her subjects, and typically does minimal editing. 

 

What's most incredible, though, is that she uses a very basic point and shoot camera to capture her images. "People think that you need all of this expensive equipment and backgrounds, but I want to inspire people to get out there and just take the pictures with whatever camera they have," says Gabel. She is able to capture intricate details, like the pollen of a dandelion, without any sort of special lens or high-powered camera. "I just get up close!" 

 

 

The exhibit includes many flowers from around Louisiana, as well as wider shots of the local landscape. You'll recognize places such as Greenwood Park and Lake Martin. She also specialized in unposed portraits, like this one of her father taken at Rosedown Plantation. 

 

 

She started taking pictures as a teen, and never stopped. As the eldest of 11 children growing up in Thibodaux, she would often photograph her siblings. Her earliest works show her eye for composition.

 

Because she uses such simple equipment, she relies heavily on her understanding of natural light. Plastic and glass bowls are a great tool for capturing and dispersing light, and she uses them often in her floral studies. With her larger, outdoor photos, she uses the light cascading through the trees to focus attention on her subjects. 

 

 

 

Gabel's unique approach to photography is not only visually stunning but also serves as an inspiration to aspiring photographers. Her work demonstrates that creativity and vision can overcome limitations in equipment, encouraging others to explore photography with whatever tools they have at hand. The Kitchen Sink Studio approach shows that with a bit of ingenuity, even common household items can be transformed into artistic tools.

The Zachary Library exhibit has no planned end date, but we encourage everyone to come out now to make sure they catch it. You can find her photographs along the walls by their meeting rooms. You'll be glad you did.