Sun, 10/16/2011 – Wed, 11/30/2011
Trexler Hall
Inaugurating one of the new galleries at the Allentown Art Museum was an exciting presentation of the work of local photographer and Lehigh Valley business owner Lee Butz. His large-format and deeply saturated color photographs capture some of the most poignant as well as most magical moments from the many productions of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s first two decades. Butz, who has been the Festival’s official photographer since 1991, has an uncanny knack for catching the defining moment of a character or a play in his work, a talent quite evident in the works on display—and ones sure to bring back nostalgic memories from Festival attendees.
Butz, one of the Lehigh Valley’s most prominent builders and head of Alvin H. Butz, Inc. for more than 35 years, began his career as a photographer when he surveyed and shot construction sites and his children’s sporting events. His theater photography is now legendary among the artists and patrons of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.