Southern Indiana council member displays photography exhibit

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) - It's no secret that John Gilkey is a photographer.

The Clarksville town council member of six years, while often preoccupied with city government, is a public artist, as well.

The reason Gilkey started taking, and the reason he still takes, photos is to share them with other people, he said.

Gilkey does that through Facebook, but since retiring from the Clark-Floyd Counties Convention and Tourism Bureau three years ago, he's started displaying his photos in exhibits.

His most recent is at the main branch of the Jeffersonville Township Public Library where his photographs debuted on Saturday in a second floor hallway gallery and will stay up until the end of January.

Libby Pollard, the library's director, asked Gilkey to show his work after a spot opened up in the gallery, which is reserved for photography.

"This exhibit is really good because of the colors," Pollard said. "They're so vibrant."

Gilkey uses Nikon cameras to take his photos. Afterward, he edits them to bring out the colors and, often, to make them look like paintings.

His subjects are usually the places he sees while on vacation.

Gilkey and his wife Virgina Gilkey, bought into a timeshare company when they retired three years ago. Every month, they try to travel to a different state together.

At each stop, John and Virginia Gilkey make sure to bring their cameras (they've been taking photographs together since they started dating).

While touring, the couple take photos of anything that captures their attention. John Gilkey often snaps several shots, trying his hardest to get the best possible angle.

As a result, his library exhibit, titled "Focused Light," is filled with around 20 photos of interesting architecture, nature and seaside scenes.

Gilkey has been honing his photography skills since the 1960s, when he was in high school. That's when he received his first camera and began walking around his hometown of New Albany, snapping photos of whatever interested him.

After graduating, Gilkey worked as a freelance photographer for the Tribune newspaper.

In a situation resembling a movie, Gilkey was working in the darkroom one day when he heard a "rather loud discussion" outside the door.

A reporter had quit, and when Gilkey walked out of the room, the managing editor of the newspaper at the time turned to him.

"Hey kid, you want to be a reporter?" he was asked.

From that point on, Gilkey took photographs and wrote for the newspaper. Eventually, he got a job at the Evening News in Jeffersonville, working his way up to senior editor, but taking photos the entire time.

Gilkey also took pictures when he joined the tourism bureau, but not having a job hasn't stopped him from continuing to share his photos with others. Gilkey just hopes that observers don't tell him his photos are bad, but they've already received a positive response from library patrons, Pollard said.

She saw one dad holding his toddler-aged son on his shoulders to get a better look at the photos. He was oohhing and ahhing, Pollard said.

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News and Tribune: http://bit.ly/2Av5I8c

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Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com