The Good 5 Cent Cigar

Issue date: 9/29/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Lauren Gingerella Local artist Madeline Robinson's exhibit, displayed in the Robert L. Carothers Library, features candid photographs of women at work.

09/29/09 - "Happenstance: Women at Work," a photography exhibit by local photographer Madeleine O. Robinson, will be featured in the University of Rhode Island's Robert L Carothers Library until Nov. 20.

The exhibit includes photos portraying women of various professions including a frame shop technician and the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Robinson began taking the photos used in this exhibit during the summer of 2007 and finished last April.

Robinson, a retired Providence teacher and Cumberland native, was inspired by two women working together during a trip to Warsaw, Poland.

"One was playing a harp-like instrument and the other stood close by to oversee their spot," Robinson said. "The brick and stonework surrounding them gave their delicate situation a certain solidarity."

Robinson said she was inspired by the women she saw in the different fields of work, and decided to use them as the subjects of her project.

All but two of the women she asked to photograph agreed to be part of her exhibit, she said.

Robinson thinks the women agreed to be photographed because her photographs give them a sense of identity. She wanted to capture their life "rather than a normal Monday through Friday grind."

"I want the exhibit to be a recognition of working women," Robinson said. "It was very casual. It was just my observations and it was a unique experience."

Most of the photos are candid shots and were taken on the spot without studio conditions.

"Any piece stands on its own," Robinson said. "Everyone has their own impression and I don't want to impose on people looking at photos. You should let the artwork speak for itself. My view is that a picture is worth ten thousand words."

Robinson has been an artist member of The Attleboro Arts Museum of Attleboro, Mass., where she donates her work for auctions.

As a certifiable artist, her photographs have also been exhibited at River Bend Visitor Center in Uxbridge, Mass.; Ten Year Retrospective of the East Greenwich Photo Gallery; The Community College of Rhode Island in Lincoln, R.I., and at the Attleboro City Hall in Attleboro, Mass.

She is also one of the few members who has won a merit award at The Attleboro Arts Museum.

"Photography is not only light, but it's about capturing the moment," She added. "That's what I like about it."

The exhibit is sponsored by URI's Charles T. Schmidt Research Center.

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