CLEVELAND — Photographers see life through a lens, and an event in downtown Cleveland is exposing viewers to some unique perspectives in an effort to bridge cultural divides.
When it comes to perspectives, photographer Herb Ascherman is known for doing things his way.
“It’s old school,” said Ascherman.
While some might say it’s a harder way, Ascherman said it’s a better way.
“It’s upside down, but I don’t see it that way,” said Ascherman, while looking through the viewfinder of his camera. “When an artist wants to check the composition of a picture, he turns it upside down on his board. I’m not looking at the elements of the picture individually. I’m looking at the picture as a whole. So, I see the whole composition.”
He grew up around cameras and started as a professional photographer in 1975.
“At that point I decided three things,” he said. “No. 1: I needed a job. No. 2: I needed a job I couldn’t get fired from. No. 3: If I was gonna work, I was gonna have a good time.”
On a recent photo shoot in Shaker Heights, Ascherman ditched going digital and opted instead for a 1951 camera, which takes a lot more precision.
“Practice,” said Ascherman. “Just years and years of practice. Checking every basic every time.”
He owns several versions of the same model Deardorff camera and always has one close at hand.
“These were the Jaguar of wooden camera,” said Ascherman. “These were the ones you really wanted to take out and take for a run. They were the backbone of the industry.”
He preserves memories using a process called “platinum printing.”
“The actual prints that come out will last (300) or 400 years,” he said. “The actual print is absorbed into the paper because it’s pure chemistry. It doesn’t sit on top of the paper. It’s absorbed into the paper.”
His career has taken him all over.
“Forty-five states, 35 countries, Presidents Carter, Bush, Reagan,” he said.
He shot than 6,000 photographs in Cleveland alone, including a total of 1,741 weddings, bar mitzvahs and doggie birthday parties.
“And the doggie birthday parties were the toughest to shoot,” said Ascherman.
His focus now is to share snapshots with the world as a director of the Cleveland Photo Fest.
Ascherman’s art is on display alongside work from other photographers in an exhibit called, “I Identify As.” Artists were partnered with someone of a different race to take their portrait.
“To meet someone, to become friends with someone, to become intimate with someone,” he said. “You’re sharing yourself when you’re in front of the camera and to have an experience that you would never previously had.”
He said the idea for the exhibit was not inspired by recent racially-related events occurring nationwide.
“It was conceived by me because I’ve grown up in Cleveland, I’m a fourth generation member of this city,” Ascherman said. “So, I’ve seen the diversity, and I’ve seen the divisiveness.”
Also participating in the project is Jim Szudy, another Photo Fest director. He’s been involved in the Cleveland arts scene since he was a teen.
“I just always feel the need to capture something, create something,” he said. “It’s just something that I like to do, and if other people like it as well, that’s a bonus.”
The photographer is used to his own style of art, so taking and posing for a portrait was a little outside of his comfort zone. But, he’s pleased with the result.
“That’s me, to a T,” he said. “Always usually by myself and I’m usually out skating or creating or taking something in.”
The more than 250 photos on display are meant to help broaden horizons, through exposure to new perspectives.
“The essence of a good photograph is something that makes you feel,” said Ascherman. “That makes you commit yourself in an emotional response that either takes your breath away or you say, ‘My God, is that terrible.’”
The ultimate goal is to bring everyone together.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” he said. “And the more you know, the more you find out the less you know.”
Cleveland Photo Fest is open Thursdays through Sundays through June 30. Admission is free.
