Park & Vine

[Avatar]

A few years ago I got the opportunity to meet a fellow KICentral member Ronny Salerno. Since then I have gotten to know Ronny better by chatting here on KICentral and by sharing many laughs and memories with him in and away from Kings Island property.

I noticed Ronny had a natural ability to take creative and interesting pictures around Kings Island and around the community he lives in and we have watched his hobby turn into a serious career path opportunity. As I have enjoyed seeing his photos over the past six months in some of his photo journalistic projects, I noticed his technical skills had vastly improved to match his natural ability to take interesting photos. I have remarked several times that I felt many of his photos where of quality I would expect to see in professional publications, in fact I had mentioned that one day I would be able to say I know that guy who took that photo. On January 10 of this year Ronny announced to us that he and Sherman Cahal would have an Exhibition of their work on display called "Forgotten Cincinnati" at a store called Park & Vine

I was unable to attend the exhibition opening night but wanted to go and see one of Ronny's first exhibitions just as soon as I could, I thought I would have made it over by now but work schedules have prevented me to do so before today. I set my GPS to the address but for some reason it took me a bit northwest of the store and noticed the area had many boarded up abandoned buildings. I think this mishap with my GPS actually helped put me in the mood for the Forgotten Cincinnati exhibition.

As I pulled up to the Park & Vine store I noticed the area had construction going on to revitalize the neighborhood but the store still had that old time river city charm.

As I entered Park & Vine immediately to the left my eyes where drawn to a well lite exhibition photo display on a beautifully green painted high ceiling wall.

The store is a earthly green store and uses cardboard shelving to stock some their well stocked unique earth friendly merchandise. The shop keeper greeted me and introduced herself as Sandy and then explained the concept of the store. I thanked her for the greeting and let her know that one of the exhibition photographers was a friend of mine and that I was in from Indianapolis and wanted to stop by to see his work on display.

Sandy went on to tell me that they have really enjoyed having the exhibition in the store and that they have had many conversations with shop guests young and old about the photographs. I noticed that the prints were for sale and many with the frames. In the next picture I noticed a blank spot on the wall and thought that photo must have sold with the frame and could not help wonder what that picture showed.

I asked if I could take a few photos and Sandy gave me permission to do so. I shopped around the store and picked out a print from one of Ronny's photos. I wanted to buy something from Park & Vine one to show appreciation of their support to the community, but also because as a small business owner I feel it is important to support other small business. Sandy talked with me for a bit more and told me about the neighborhood revitalization and her love for the old theaters and buildings in the area. I really enjoyed my visit to Park & Vine and glad I took the time to experience the atmosphere they provided.

As I got back in my van and pulled away from the Park & Vine I realized that I would never be able to say "I know the guy who took that/those picture/s".

But I will always be able to say "I am friends with the photographer who took those pictures".

Ronny you are a inspiration, I enjoy your work and the life lessons I have learned through you.

Your Friend - Jesse

Avatar's Personal Review of "Forgotten Cincinnati" Exhibition.

Upon entering Park & Vine the exhibition was in clear view and seemed to work in harmony with the working retail store. The Exhibit was well lite and it was easy to view both the photos and the write-ups the photographers had done of their photo's. The store had very high ceilings which allowed the exhibition to display above many of the stores merchandise. This was OK but the only draw back of this was Ronny Salerno's pictures where shown horizontally in a frame with a 5x7 picture in it which made it more difficult to see the top pictures. The size of the pictures I think was good and I'll explain that after my review of Sherman Cahal photos.

Sherman Cahal framed photos were much larger and easy to view from anywhere in the store. It seemed to me that most Sherman's photos were focusing on some old or tarnished well used objects. I thought the way Sherman photographed his objects created curiosity and memories from old logos. I felt that many of Sherman's framed photos would look nice in either a home or a commercial setting.

Ronny Salerno's Photo Exhibition I thought was well placed and I liked how he used uniformity to display his photographs. I feel many of Ronny's photographs have an artistic flair to them using natural light and sight lines which to me made his display work cohesively with his photographs. I also like Ronny's choice of using 5x7 photographs for his photos because as I viewed his photos I felt like I was being drawn into the picture and even found myself leaning into the picture to see more details. Now the beauty of Ronny's photos is that in many of his photos he uses natural lines and angles to help capture interest in his photos and I found myself stepping back a bit to get a better whole picture look. The best way I can describe my experience of viewing Ronny's photos would to describe like a Hologram. His photographs had a different viewing experience and that depended on your viewing distance.

I enjoyed looking at the photos and often stopped to think back of how the subjects would have looked in earlier years. I will finish this review by saying when viewing Ronny Salerno and Sherman Cahal photographs parts of old Cincinnati is not forgotten.

[The Interpreter]

Wow. What a wonderful trip report. And what a great pleasure to read.

You both express things so very well....

Terpy, glad to be a part of all this

[standbyme]

Thanks for the nice report...I feel warm all over! I hope he is eventually able to make a living doing what he actually enjoys...and is good at...something that most of us are not lucky enough to do.

See ya,

J.D.

(By the way, I noticed the white cargo van in one of your shots.)

[Avatar]

I was going to put a review in Ronny's announcement thread but now I think it would be better to put it in the original post above. So if you have already read the report above please take a moment and go back to read the review at the bottom of the original post, titled "Avatar's Personal Review of "Forgotten Cincinnati" Exhibition.

[indianapolisman]

Excellent report Avatar. I have read about this exhibit, and was quite intrested in seeing it. Thanks for posting. Ronny's photography is an art, and should be

on display. Kings Island Central is lucky to have such a talented photographer.

[Gordon Bombay]

Avatar, Terp, J.D. and Indianapolisman: Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. Some day it would be nice to do this for a living, but for right now I enjoy it more as something I do in my spare time and for personal enjoyment....exploring that is. If you guys are interested in seeing more "Forgotten Cincinnati" as well as other Cincinnati photography and exploration, check out my website: www.queencitydisco.com

Avatar, thank you for stopping by when you were in the area. It means a lot to me, I'm glad you enjoyed the exhibit, thanks for taking time out of your day to see it. The folks at Park+Vine are great. I'll be the first to admit, until I was asked to do the exhibit there I probably would've never shopped at a store like that, lol, but even if you're not into "green living" there are lots of great local products to support made by local manufacturers and artists. Dan, the owner, and his staff are great. You were right, a lot of the area around there is "Forgotten," and dilapidated and abandoned. Slowly, though, Over-The-Rhine is seeing revitalization and redevelopment block by block, and businesses like Park+Vine are great examples of that. I think if the Streecar plan becomes a reality, you will really see that area prosper as it becomes connected with the riverfront.

As for the 5x7's...originally Sherman and I were going to be splitting that wall with another exhibit...."Forgotten Cincinnati" on one side and the other artist on the other. I guess his show fell through and Dan the owner gave us the full wall. By that time I had already edited and printed the photographs I wanted. I have a job over the summer and during my 7 weeks over the winter, but most of the time during school I don't work so I try to save money. After taking in the cost of printing and how much frames/mattes were going to cost I decided to stick with the 5x7's to save money. Sherman went ahead and did some larger prints. They can be a bit hard to see in that space, but I think it turned out ok.

I've been exploring and shooting with Sherman since February 2007 and I often check out his photographs on his personal website, but until seeing our work side by side at the gallery I never realized just how differently we see and photograph things and I really enjoyed seeing that. Sherman runs a great website called www.abandonedonline.net that is about abandoned locations all over the Mid-Atlantic, while mine focuses mainly on Cincinnati/the Tri-State.

Once again thank you Avatar for checking out the exhibit and I am very glad to say that I can also call you my friend.

If anyone else is interested in seeing some of my other work, check out:

www.queencitydisco.com - Cincinnati Exploration Photographs

www.ronnysalerno.com - My personal Photojournalism Portfolio

[DropZone99]

Wow! Those SOB pics are amazing, some of the best photographs I have ever seen!

[Gordon Bombay]

Thanks Beaver!

[RailRider]

Thanks for sharing a great TPR with us Avatar and especially with some awesome subject matter. Ronny I became interested in these forgotten places while looking at the Weird Ohio book. That spurred my interest in abandoned and forgotten places and I really enjoy your site because of the quality photos and the great descriptions of what Im looking at. Great work and I always enjoy the new additions.

On a side note I am still amazed at the failed Cincy subway. One of my favorite subjects especially photo wise.