Join us for the opening reception of our latest exhibit, Chala Jan.
The reception is free and open to the public, featuring music and light refreshments.
Chala Janpraphasakul is a Scranton-based photographer, an image maker and a computer programmer. Born and raised in Thailand until 1998 when she arrived in New York, learning a new language and getting education in order. After graduating from Hunter College, New York, in 2004 with a Computer Science degree, she relocated to Scranton, PA, and has held a position in a software company. Chala was introduced to photography during her teenage years. A Pentax camera, rolls of black and white film, a darkroom, chemical and prints. But that was a short exposure to photography before many life elements presented themselves as invitation to explore other routes.
During the years in Northeast Pennsylvania, Chala picked up a camera again, revisited the basic knowledge she learned back in high school. As she explored various styles of photography, she signed up at the International Center of Photography for a well-grounded understanding in digital photography techniques and lighting. She has implemented and polished the traditional knowledge on real-world tasks of capturing events and portraits. Although through experiment and the flexibility of digital image processing, she was inspired to apply photography as a medium to create images of alternative reality.
She was drawn to a surrealist style of photography and found it satisfied her need to transform her imagination, thoughts, feelings or dreams into a story in an image. After attending a workshop on Levitation Photography in 2011, Chala focused on story-telling while creating her images as well as the visual dynamic essence that invokes a viewer’s perception. She merges her subjects with multiplicity, levitation and movements in order to tell a story and to depict the impossible.
