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Art Pundt’s Photography


Seeing an Art Pundt photograph on Facebook, always brings a smile.  This month I had the opportunity to place a call and meet this gentleman! 

Art grew up in upstate NY, until he was 20 years old, spending his time between Irondequoit, and summers in the 1000 Islands near Cape Vincent at his family’s cottage.   In 1970, at 20 years of age, he moved to Arizona to go to college and eventually took up permanent residence in Flagstaff, where he still lives with his wife Lorna.

Currently Art and his wife are retired and divide their time between Flagstaff, and Cape Vincent, spending about four months of the summer and early fall in the 1000 Islands each year.

I knew there was something about his work that showed a trained eye.  I was right.  Art has a BS and MS in Art education, from Northern Arizona University and was formerly a fine arts teacher. He has been involved in the visual arts since he was about 16 years old.

Art and his wife are dedicated to the outdoors and have been avid outdoor adventurers for more than 40 years, They are still active with a long list of excursions:  camping, hiking, backpacking, mountain climbing, X-C and downhill skiing, as well as sailing, boating, and sea kayaking, all of which have taken them to many spectacular wild and remote areas that inspires his photography.

His prints are for sale, and currently some are on exhibit in Captain Spicer's Gift Shop and Gallery in Clayton, NY.  He is also a member of the North Country Art Council (NCAC), in Watertown, NY. In 2014, he won a prize in the NCAC fall show for a photograph as well as three prizes including best-of-show in the Cape Vincent Chamber Focus on the Cape photo contest.

Art is also a painter; working in acrylic media and concentrating his local photography and painting on the outdoor landscapes.  “I have always been fascinated by the beauty and abstraction of light on the water, but I also love the inland country as well, of wide open fields and agricultural settings.”

While in the West he  photographs western landscapes exploring, hiking, and camping in remote wilderness areas, particularly of the desert southwest.

As if that is not enough, Art is also an active member of a sheriff’s volunteer wilderness search and rescue team, when in Flagstaff, AZ, where he has occasionally used his photography, in an official CSI capacity, to help resolve lost or missing persons searches.  Occasionally his photos have ended up in the media, as part of a news story.  last fall a photo he took from a search helicopter, which he was able to manipulate in Photoshop for a better view, helped solve a case of a hiker missing for over a year.  It was a photo of objects left behind that matched the description of items the hiker was supposed to be carrying.  Because the terrain was so rugged, they could not land, so the photos were helpful along with a GPS location.  Ground searchers were sent to the location the next day and found the items and sadly, the remains of the hiker.  It was not the outcome they hoped for, but it brought some closure to the distraught family.

Yes, it is an honour to introduce Art Pundt to our TI Life readers –  Choosing eight photographs from a large collection was difficult - Enjoy.

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Fishing – Beadle Pt. – Cape Vincent, NY
Art Pundt ©2015
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Fall at Cedar Pt. State Park – Cape Vincent, NY
Art Pundt ©2015
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Foggy Morning – Beadle Pt. Cape Vincent, NY
Art Pundt ©2015
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The gulls on the Cape Vincent Breakwater
Art Pundt ©2015
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Anchored Ship Near Carleton Island
Art Pundt ©2015
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Fall Shore Sunset – Beadle Pt. Cape Vincent, NY
Art Pundt ©2015
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Graceful Flight – Geese near Linda Island – Cape Vincent, NY
Art Pundt ©2015

I asked Art if there was something special that we should know about him and his camera.  He writes, “About me and my camera...generally I try to get that Oh Wow! moment of a scene, as I have experienced it in the field, and bring it to the observer of my work. I want more than snap shots.  As if you are hiking or kayaking and come around a corner and there is that incredible scene that knocks you off your feet. I try to bring that to the viewer.   In addition, I also try to bring that experience of finding the subtle beauty that is all around us, in unexpected places.  Like some of my work, where I focus only on the color and light patterns formed in water.  I hope all of this makes people observe more closely  and become more aware of the incredible outdoor beauty and experiences.  Hopefully that appreciation will transfer to a heightened understanding and awareness of why we need to protect treasured places like the 1000 Islands and other similar places, not only in our back yard, but around the world.

By Susan W. Smith, susansmith@thousandislandslife.com

Editor, TI Life

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Comments

Heather Chitty
Comment by: Heather Chitty
Left at: 8:15 AM Monday, June 15, 2015
Gorgeous images. Thanks for sharing.
Peggy
Comment by: Peggy
Left at: 3:49 PM Monday, June 15, 2015
Beautiful pictures. I especially love "Foggy Morning - Beadle Point
Clif Schneider
Comment by: Clif Schneider
Left at: 8:32 PM Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Having just returned from a hiking excursion to the Adirondacks and a visit to the Blue Mountain Museum I am very appreciative of the photographic record and its value of depicting change. In time the record left behind by Thousand Island's Life and its contributing photographers like Art will be appreciated even more, but from a different perspective. Art Pundt and others will leave a beautiful record of a beautiful place at this small point in time. Yet, others in may years to come will appreciate what we have today as much as we do at this time. Nice contribution to more than this issue.
Art Pundt
Comment by: Art Pundt
Left at: 6:20 PM Thursday, June 18, 2015
Clif,

Thank you for the very kind words. You have very succinctly hit a nail right on the head!

You and I are intimately aware of what "changes" could come to the 1000 Islands region and how important it is to document the incredible beauty we have the stewardship of.

Hopefully people for generations will be able to absorb the 1000 Islands experience and beauty directly through there own first hand sensory experience, and not only from a magazine or a photo in a museum, because we were too timid, and just let it slip away.

My sincere hope is that people will never have to look at these photos from ALL the contributors and say " Gee it really was beautiful at one time, I wonder why people didn't see it and protect it?"

As I said in another Facebook post comparing Mojave Desert and the 1000 Islands. They should be admired, protected and respected. Admiring is the easy part, protecting is where you unapologetically put your beliefs on the line and stand up to whatever the consequences are!

As you know the 1000 Islands may not be designated as a State Area of Scenic Significance, but I applaud your efforts.

But if that falls through it is my hope that myself and all the contributors and 1000's Life Mag. sends a sharp and distinct message of just how beautiful and significant a place we all have the stewardship of, whether we have it officially on paper or not. There is more than one way to skin a cat, as they say!

The SASS designation would be great, and it would be on paper, but I hope the pictures reach much deeper into everyone's hearts and minds so they can't turn away, or refuse to turn away, and leave the beauty of the 1000 Islands as a place just in passing.

Best wishes to all who have enjoyed, commented, and complimented my work.

And a super thanks to Susan Smith for including me as a feature in 1000 Island Life.

Art Pundt - Cape Vincent - Flagstaff, AZ