Brian Alterio’s successful photojournalism career was put on hold due to the advent of digital technology. As a digital pioneer Alterio helped shaped the imaging technology that we know today. After thirty years, in late 2011, Alterio roused his creative interest in photography and began again shooting botanicals in black and white in parallel to the human figure.

Alterio’s series, Human Nature, is featured in the Atelier Gallery at the Griffin Museum April 10 through June 8, 2014. An opening reception with the artist is April 10, 7-8:30 p.m.

"I observed the slow, magnificent blooming of an Amaryllis and it inspired me," says Alterio. "I was entranced by the flower’s organic beauty, but even more taken by the powerful push/pull of its form against an accidentally dark background. This fascinating journey with floral images seemed strikingly evocative of the humbling studies of the human figure by our esteemed photographic predecessors. In response, I began also to study of the human figure in conjunction with my ongo­ing studies of floral images, finding the coincidences of the human form and lines in space played against the floral images infinitely compelling."

"One could say that Alterio’s studies of the flower and human form speak to his realization of the inevitability of life’s cyclic twists and turns," says Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum of Photography. "We all look back to canvass our experiences and accomplishments. What Alterio’s photographs say to me is that eventually, women and men alike, seek out respite and sanctuary from a success-oriented life style."