Waynesboro: Art in a different light

Story by Chris Graham
[email protected]

We as artists like to think of ourselves as creative geniuses, but the truth is some of our best inspirations come from chance and paying attention. That’s how Waynesboro artist Deb Booth came into producing a new DVD using her groundbreaking photography and the music of local talent Richard Adams and the nationally known and respected Ray Lynch.

A friend was looking at photos that Booth had taken of a neighbor’s morning glories when the computer program that she used to view them put them to music from Lynch that Booth had saved on her hard drive as a default. The two viewed the photos as a filmstrip as the music played when the inspiration hit.

“She said, Deb, you need to do a DVD of your photos to this music. This is incredible. It’s transformative. I feel totally relaxed, happy,” said Booth, who will debut the DVD that resulted from the impromptu inspiration, “Gardens of Serenity,” this weekend at the Virginia Fall Foliage Festival Art Show in Downtown Waynesboro.

You can get a sneak preview of the DVD here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=DwgVL4Hh2MI]

Booth produced the DVD with the idea in mind of matching the moods of the music and the photos. “This music is so powerful that it can still bring me to tears after all of this time. It’s so evocative,” Booth said. “I had the best time putting specific images to mirror what was going on in the music. I get to the point where, OK, this is star music, so I have to put spangles in it. I like taking what is and taking it to what it could be,” Booth said.

The photos themselves have the power to move. Booth calls her photography studio Different Light Studio for a reason. “The shot at the very beginning, for example, shows what looks to be the world as viewed from outer space. It was an urn covered with Christmas lights at the Lewis-Ginter Botanical Garden three years ago. And if you apply filters, and you have a twisted mind, it becomes something else, when viewed in a different light,” Booth said.

Booth plans to make the DVD available to hospitals and hospice centers and other such locations with the idea in mind of providing some serenity for people who need a healthy dose of it.

“One of my goals in life is to have a positive impact, to make the world glad that I was here. And to be able to do that while I do something that I adore … wow!” Booth said.