Jul 2, 2007

Exhibit takes onlookers 'Behind Closed Doors'

By Adria Murray / Society Columnist

The intense, beautifully surreal fine art images by photographer Shelley D. Spray explore sights unseen by most. From the white-gloved hands working in rhythmic precision, to the masked faces, tubes, drills and gazing eyes, the alien world of surgery is revealed.

The Los Gatos Art Museum's latest exhibit, "Behind Closed Doors," sheds a precise, and at times, radiating light on the art of surgery. Spray's collection of work showcasing the man (or woman) behind the curtain, is a sort of a love letter to the medical profession, a series of portraits of hope, and a reflection of her personal journey with breast cancer.

Spray discovered a lump in her breast that led her down a path, initially through chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and then to a place of the unknown.
"I felt really lost," Spray said, during the artist reception at the museum on June 28. "I asked myself what everyone does. ... What next?"

Spray took "a leap of faith," and a camera she didn't know how to use, and left for Paris in search of herself. After enrolling at Speos art school in France, Spray started over again, at the age of 37, and soon began visiting operating rooms at Paris Medical University to photograph the things that "fascinated" her - surgeons and their miracle-working hands.

The artist's favorite photo, "Grace," captures the hands of a nurse handing a scalpel off to the doctor, with two white-gloved hands paused in time, and cast in warm light.

"I want to bring recognition to those who save lives," Spray said.

Spray is a believer in the use of ambient light, and her photos are illuminated naturally and bathed in rich black backgrounds, putting the small details of surgical procedures in focus.

At the artist reception, Spray explained to the crowd of friends, museum volunteers and members of the medical profession about the way she achieves her style of photography. From employing the use of a fisheye lens, to standing on a ladder over the anesthesiologist's shoulder, Spray has snapped close to 10,000 photos from the other side of the operating room door.

Through years of working for a medical laparoscopic development company, Spray was able to build relationships with surgeons in France, Germany and America, and regularly gained access to surgical procedures, most of which were open-heart surgeries. Eventually, her work became a permanent exhibition at Paris Medical University.

Attendees enjoying the insightful lecture included Spray's friends Cady Lazzarini, Doris Watson and Mike Scolari, along with fellow exhibiting artist Rosalie Lang, museum executive director Stephanie Hatch, Marianne Hamilton, Joanne Talesfore and museum art committee chairwoman Noreen Christopher.

While circuling the rooms displaying her photos and discussing her unusual photographic niche, Spray said wide-eyed, "It's very beautiful to me."

"Behind Closed Doors" will be on exhibit through July 28.