PETALS AND PLACES
George Tchobanoglous
December 4 - 28, 2024
George Tchobanoglous is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCD. His principal areas of research include wastewater treatment and potable reuse of wastewater, solid waste management, and small wastewater treatment systems. He continues to serve as a consultant both nationally and internationally. Photography, especially black and white photography, has been a lifelong hobby and passion. At 15, he began printing black and white images in a makeshift darkroom in the cellar of his family’s farmhouse in Patterson, CA. Working originally with roll-film cameras, primarily 35- and 120-mm format, he has used digital cameras exclusively since 2015. He currently uses a Fuji X-T4 digital camera.
George has had three previous photo shows at the Natsoulas Gallery in Davis in 2008, 2011, and 2015. He has also shown at the UCD University Club, the Davis International House, and the Davis Art Center. More recently (2024), his photographs were selected for display in three juried shows: The KVIE Art Auction and two art shows at the Giustina Gallery at Oregon State University: Crowned Splendor and Celestial Creatures (A celebration of Wings and Feathers). His technical photographs appear in his textbooks, and in numerous articles for scientific journals and magazines.
In addition to photography, George is a passionate gardener and traveler. “Petals and Places” combines these two loves with pictures of flowers grown at home juxtaposed with memorable travel images. The “Petals” images are primarily of flowers he’s grown in the backyard of his and Rosemary’s home in Davis over a three-year period, during the Covid epidemic. Included in the show are Amaryllis, Calla Lillies, Canna Lily, Clivia, Gloxinias, Mandeville’s, and Roses. The other flower photographs are Frailejon (Espeletia), taken in the Venezuelan Andes; Tree Orchid, taken in Brazil; Water Lily, taken in Vietnam; and Flower Arrangement, taken in Europe.
The diverse “Places” images were all taken during research, business, and personal travels all over the world during the past 55 years. From architectural features to people, to wondrous birds, the pictures reflect those moments in time when everything worked: location, opportunity, and vision. Whether noticing shadows on a stairwell, a child in a car window, or the perfect bloom of a rose, George’s images offer the viewer the wonder of finding scenes unique to people and place.
About the Photographic Prints
The framed photos are printed by the photographer on Archival papers, by Epson, Hahnemuhle, and Red River, using SureColor Epson pigment inks with Epson SureColor P600 and P700 printers. The mounting of the photographs, including the backing and double front matts, is Archival throughout. The protective plexiglass glaze is designed to eliminate 98 percent of the UV spectrum in sunlight, which can be damaging to photographs. Based on testing by others, the color photographs should not fade for 200 years.