Sunlight and Water will transform eight tasting rooms, a restaurant, and a hotel in downtown Los Olivos into a Meandering Gallery experience showcasing Mark Robert Halper's portraits of Santa Barbara County, California winemakers.

The six month photographic exhibition will open to coincide with the release of the book, Sunlight and Water: Celebrating the Winemakers of Santa Barbara County. Wine and art related events will continue through February of 2011.

The intimate portraits of Sunlight and Water celebrate the romance of wine country, the passion of the vintners, and the artistry of great wine.

The Inspiration.

In many ways there is no such thing as a get-away vacation for an artist. Sunlight and Water began as a wine country vacation for Mark Robert Halper and his wife Jennifer.

“I've never taken very well to sightseeing or spending days lying on a beach somewhere,” Halper comments. “The prospect of drinking wine and creating art was far more appealing, and on little more than an impulse, I asked my studio manager to find us winemakers who would sit for my camera. They were told it was a personal project that perhaps would manifest into a book. On the first trip,” Halper smiles as he remembers, “there was little fear, and a great deal of syrah.”

Halper decided at the beginning to use the broadest definitions of who a winemaker is. Properly, the term Vintner would be more appropriate, but also far less accessible. This project includes those who own the wineries, and even some who grow the fruit. The portrait collection is representative rather than comprehensive. It encompasses vintners from the largest wineries in the county, to a woman who has a single barrel of very excellent syrah to her name. There are vintners who have been making wine since the area was first planted in the early 70's, as well as some who only came to the area within the last few years. There are cowboys and executives, chefs and farmers, and entertainment moguls and architects. All of them are winemakers as well.

Halper made a few decisions about the series in the beginning of the process. “I've tried to be sparing in my use of barrels, bottles, and vines, and to remember that a photo of a winemaker doesn't by any necessity require the props or locations of the trade; these are portraits of people, not archetypes. ” Halper remembers that “the experience fueled me creatively and I felt that it was the best series of work that I'd ever done.”

The subjects, of course, are at the heart of it, and much of the variety in the work was able to stem from who they are. “I feel a very strong affinity with these people in terms of their love of their work. We think of winemakers in glamorous terms, but the task is really farming. There is a quiet passion that allows them to nurse the grapes over time into what we know as wine, but the process is really a very messy and earthy business. Vintners are an eccentric group, and proud of the work they do. They work very hard, and their rewards come slowly.”

Halper’s romantic images are evidence of his romance with the area. He reflects “The results, and so many of the people, are bigger than life, even if the process of doing the work is not. They are very individual in their personalities. I have neither the talent, nor the patience, to undertake what is involved in even a single barrel of wine. I find beauty in the struggle, and I hope that I've imparted that in my work.”

The intimate portraits of Sunlight and Water celebrate the romance of wine country, the passion of the vintners, and the artistry of great wine.

The Aesthetics.

Creator and photographer Mark Robert Halper has a classic aesthetic, and was heavily influenced in this work by the visual qualities of early cameras which are reflected in the softness, lens flare, and visual imperfections which are part of all of the imagery.

As the project progressed, the work evolved. Halper’s camera pulled back to reveal more of the environment, and the imagery grew in complexity and sophistication. Each of the individual trips has an evolving character that contributes to the creative breadth of the series.

All of the Sunlight and Water photographs were done with a minimum of equipment and complexity. "For me, this project was very much about getting back to basics, " Halper explains. “Most of the images were done with natural light, and those that did use artificial lighting were lit with very simple lighting purchased primarily from hardware stores, rather than traditional professional equipment. ” None of the final images were planned out in advance of the scheduled sessions; rather Halper worked with the locations and props on hand and responded to his subjects on an individual basis. The design of the images was largely intuitive, and in most cases he tried several different setups with each of his subjects.

By choosing black and white, and in his careful attention to the individual elements in his images, Halper worked to create a look in the imagery that keeps it from being anchored to any specific point in time. The images have very little, if any, retouching, and were all created with the same lens on the same Hasselblad digital camera body.

The Artist.

Mark Robert Halper is passionate about everything he does. A professional photographer for two decades, Halper has built a successful career in a competitive field by bringing a consistent vision to a diverse client base. Halper thrives on the variety in the projects he tackles. “Every day is something different doing exactly what I love,” Halper explains.

Raised in Los Angeles, where he still resides, Halper became interested in filmmaking in high school, an interest which would transform into still photography in college. After graduating from University of California Los Angeles in 1987, Halper began studying commercial photography and in 1989, started shooting professional assignments.

His entrepreneurial spirit has guided him in the expansion of his business. He realized the power of the Internet early on in promoting his work and business, resulting in his becoming more widely known. His clientele evolved from magazine editorial in the mid and late 90’s to corporate and advertising clients in the new millennium.

Halper comments, "The key to my work is simplicity. I take out everything that isn’t absolutely necessary, until the only elements that remain are those that are entirely essential. The best photographs are usually the simplest.”

Halper’s photography has evolved to include a number of personal projects several of which have been exhibited as fine art.

In 2007, Mark married Jennifer Hunt, a special effects digital compositor and lighter for academy award winning films. She now brings her expertise to the business, retouching Halper’s imagery, including all of the fine art photography. She also works with Halper on his sessions, and was a constant presence in Sunlight and Water.

Mark and Jennifer give back to the community in many ways, including donating portraits to the victims of the Sayre Fires in Sylmar (who had lost their images and belongings) and by helping to raise funds for a wide variety of charities through donations of their work.