RPCV Nathan Fitch's photo show

RPCV Photographer Nathan Fitch (Micronesia 2004–06) works as the studio manager for a National Geographic photographer, and is also a photographer with a brilliant new show —  “Double Vision” — that is currently at AS220’s Main Gallery, 115 Empire St. in Providence, Rhode Island.

Nathan writes, “The “Double Vision” show came out of my interest in working with people with disabilities and in the arts.”

A while back Nathan was looking for an organization with which to do some volunteering when he found Top Drawer Art Center, a nonprofit visual art center providing art programs for adults with developmental disabilities. By chance they had a part time job they needed to be filled. During the nine months he spent at Top Drawer he took photographs of the adults as they worked, and he started thinking that a show might evolve from the photos. “Rather than only having my outside perspective upon the center, I wanted to give each artist a say in representing him- or herself.”  So after he left Top Drawer and moved to New York, he began to send prints of his portraits back to Top Drawer so that the artists could each draw, paint on, or otherwise embellish the photos of themselves. Nathan then paired his portraits with the artists self-portraits to  create a dynamic interplay within each set. The result is Double Vision. Nathan says: “Basically, the artists at Top Drawer are a very interesting group of special and talented people who are doing work that deserves to be seen.  The show is about and for them.

The show runs through Saturday, September 26, 2009. The website for Top Drawer is: http://topdrawer.squarespace.com/