The exhibition, “view / FINDER,” features sweeping western landscapes by international photographer Luke Wynne, through Dec. 19, Rotunda Gallery, City Hall, Bethlehem.

“What to keep, and what to discard? That is the primary conundrum that photographers face when they pick up the camera and put their eye to the viewfinder,” says Wynne, emphasizing, “The view exists. It is up to the photographer to find what to capture.”

Wynne began his photographic career in New York City where his work appeared in Andy Warhol’s Interview, and New York Magazine and Cosmopolitan.

In 1980, Wynne moved to Los Angeles where he worked as an editorial, portrait and movie set photographer. He took photos for more than 30 films for Disney, Fox, Universal and Paramount Studios. His magazine photography continued for Shape, New West, Voice, TelePoche in France and Oggi in Italy.

While residing in Italy from 1999 - 2011, Wynne conducted portrait workshops and taught advanced photography courses before relocating to Easton. Around 2011, he began transiting from film to digital.

“I didn’t do it for the camera. I did it for the printing,” Wynne says. Printing from digital images provided him with greater control and consistent tonality. “Printing these things in a color darkroom would have been a nightmare,” he says.

Wynne credits his wife Barbara Dorio with helping him “in ways both big and small,” with his work.

“Ruminations for this show started a few years ago when Barbara and I decided to return to some of the places we loved to visit when we lived in Los Angeles,” says Wynne.

Their travels took them back to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Arches National Park, among “other spectacular places the West has to offer.” The couple expanded their journey to include places they had not seen before in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado.

“These trips opened a whole new challenge to me,” says Wynne. Inspired by the work of the great photographers who came before him, such as Ansel Adams, Wynne pondered his approach to capturing the landscapes photographically.

“I placed my eye in the viewfinder and found what I was looking for,” he says.

“The viewfinder has always been a safe haven for me,” explains Wynne. “It’s actually the happiest place I know.”

“Twin Towers, Nevada” (2022; pigment ink print, 20 in. x 30 in.) is one of the scenes the artist photographed for “view / FINDER.” Says Wynne, “As we were driving, I came across this right on the roadway.”

After parking on the shoulder, he lined up the pair of massive rock formations in his viewfinder. The clouds then parted, almost on cue, allowing the blue sky to peek through. This gave Wynne the element he needed to provide scale to the image. “It was all in the viewfinder,” says Wynne.

Wynne shares his knowledge and experience with students as an adjunct professor of digital photography at Moravian University, Bethlehem.

He graduated with honors from the New England School of Photography, Boston, Mass. Wynne studied at the Pasadena Art Center, Pasadena, Calif.; School of Visual Arts, New York City, and Goddard College, Montpelier, Vt.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission.

“view / FINDER,” through Dec. 19, Rotunda Gallery, City Hall, 10 E. Church St., Bethlehem. Gallery hours: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday - Friday, Closed weekends, holidays. Information: https://bfac-lv.org/

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com