SAUGERTIES, NY.- Eleven Hudson Valley photographers announce “SMALL TOWN PARADE” a photography exhibition that opened yesterday at the Saugerties Performing Arts Factory, in Saugerties, NY.

The photographs, taken on July 4, 2012 during the region’s largest and best-known Independence Day Parade, are on display thru July 26, 2013.

Saugerties, like many small towns in America, takes great pride in its annual Fourth of July Parade. While these parades share many of the same elements, the local charm and cast of characters are what make each parade unique. Local photographer Allen Bryan has been photographing the Saugerties parade for many years.

Last year, Bryan invited other professional photographers, each with ties to the area, to join him in recording the Saugerties event. Ten of us responded enthusiastically to the idea of a joint project. On a personal level, we each enjoyed the experience, and benefitted from the camaraderie in an occupation that tends more toward solitude. After the parade, when we sat together comparing images, we realized that we had recorded an appealing take on a quintessentially American event. It seemed appropriate that we show the work in Saugerties, where it originated. And now that we've been invited to hang the show at SPAF (The Saugerties Performing Arts Factory), we look forward to sharing the project with the residents of Saugerties and the greater Hudson Valley. For the 2013 parade, we will be back on the streets with cameras, but also with exhibition announcement cards to entice participants and spectators to attend the exhibition and perhaps see pictures of themselves from a year ago.

The announcement card features a Moshe Katvan image of an American flag draped covered wagon with a couple inside, photographed from behind. Harry Wilks, focused his camera on groups and presents the well known “Iwo Jima” flag raisers on a float with parade spectators as a backdrop. Allen Bryan’s theme is “Wave”-- everyone in his photos have their hands in the air.

The eleven photographers listed below are accomplished in both the fine art and commercial arenas and show their work nationally and locally.

Dan Burkholder • Allen Bryan • Tom Lindley • Benjamin Swett • Ken Tannenbaum • Art Murphy • Harry Wilks • Michael Nelson • Jill Skupin Burkholder • Moshe Katvan • Rivka Katvan