Gallery showcases work of Primeaux, Pons

This month, The Gallery is featuring two very talented local photographers.

It will be the first show for Crowley’s own Katie Primeaux, while Lafayette photographer Joe Pons will return with a new collection of work.

Viewers of the show can expect to see two drastically different styles from the two photographers, with the vast majority of the work appearing in color.

Primeaux’s show, “Acadiana Lullabies & Love,” focuses on people and places in Acadiana. 

Born and raised in Crowley, Primeaux graduated from Notre Dame High School before attending Louisiana State University in Eunice. She went to work at Redemptorist Catholic School as a computer teacher, development director and publicity director before leaving to pursue professional photography. 

Primeaux’s carer in the field began as a hobby and blossomed after word spread of her wedding, event and portraiture talent. She continues to photograph landscapes and architecture as a hobby and recalls being shocked when someone first asked whether one of those photographs was for sale.

Primeaux says that she is truly passionate about capturing the culture and beauty of the region. In her role as a  professional photographer, she derives profound satisfaction from capturing moments, emotions, events and milestones in the lives of her clients. 

On the flip side, Pons’ show features photographs taken around the world.

Asked to define himself, Pons will say that he is a “location photographer,” and his current show, “Door Knobs and Hinges” is an example.

Focusing on the architecture of entryways, the 21-image show includes an interesting series of door knockers. While photos of door knockers may not seem exciting, they are interesting and intriguing as presented by Pons.

Pons, who is 73, says that photography is actually his second career. Born in New Orleans, he graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana before going to work for Ford Motor Co. as a field service engineer and technical manager in its Service and Customer Relations division.

He went on to earn a master’s degree and pursue doctorate. In the end, he was a professor of industrial technology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, retiring in 1999.

Pons, who now pursues his photographic interests full time, began with black-and-white photography in the mid-1950s and color transparency film in the mid-1960s. Over the years, he mastered 35 mm, medium format and 5x7 large format field cameras. Since 2008 he has been a 100-percent digital photographer. 

His work has been displayed in numerous galleries in the Acadiana area and New Orleans, and it has even traveled as far west as Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort in Washington’s Olympic National Park and as far east as the Apple Valley Gallery in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It has also appeared in “Weekend Escapes,” “The Louisiana Review” and “The History Channel Magazine.”

The Gallery is located at 222 N. Parkerson Ave. in Crowley. For more information call 783-3747 or visit www.crowleyartgallery.com.