Blue Sky February 2022 Exhibition
Ward Shortridge: Beauty That Thrives Under the Ravages of Time
Feb 3 - 26, 2022 | First Thursday Reception Feb 3, 5-7 PM
Blue Sky is pleased to announce a special memorial exhibition to honor Portland photographer, Ward Shortridge (American, 1960 - 2019).
Panel discussion: Saturday, February 5, 1:30PM at Blue Sky Gallery
This retrospective exhibition, Beauty That Thrives Under the Ravages of Time, comprises work spanning a 20-year period, including the series Washington D.C. Portraits (1999-2004), Portland Portraits (2009-2014) and Portland Houses (2018-2019).
image © Ward Shortridge
Shortridge was born in 1960 in the Washington, D.C area. At the age of 6 he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Shortridge earned a master’s degree in social work from American University in the early 1990’s and started a career as a social worker soon afterwards. About the same time he began shooting photos of people he met around Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. He moved to Oregon in 2009 where he continued his social work and photography. Shortridge passed away in December 2019 at the age of 59.
Shortridge said of his photographic process, “The best photographs, like the best therapy, occur when I don’t talk too much, when I engage my subjects with unconditional acceptance and love, when I let go of my desire for a particular result and take my direction from the life that is presented to me.”
image © Ward Shortridge
The exhibition is organized by Bobby Abrahamson, a Portland-based documentary photographer, who was a close friend and photographic colleague of Shortridge. Abrahamson currently holds Shortridge’s photographic archive.
Blue Sky will hold extended hours on First Thursday, February 3, from 5 -7 PM. Proof of vaccination and masks are required to enter the gallery.