Gabriel Berent

Photographer

Photography has provided me with a lens into the world and into my own story. The world that I grew in was similar to the late 1800's, gathering firewood to keep our home- a school bus warm, to collecting rocks with my father to fix the road, or in search of mushrooms in the open fields. Being a photographer has been a chance to record these moments filled with love, contemplation, and light. 

The meditation of seeing the world unfold through the blades of a lens leaved me with no conclusions, but with questions.

Remembrance of the past is always colored with the way we wished it had been, but photography forces us to to look at an impartial truth frozen in time.

I have been obsessed with the art of photography since I first saw my photographs magically appear in the developer and take shape on the paper. I was hooked. With the help of a great teacher and mentor, Bill Brazill I set off on a journey of discovery using photography as my tool for expression.  Over the years I have worked with 4x5 cameras, and medium format cameras, digital SLR's and Leica rangefinders, but my lens is always the small rural community that I come from.

 My continued love of  photography is about the never ending search for the "decisive moment" and the joy and the challenge of being in the moment.