"Hits and Near Misses" showcases Sommers' talents

FALLBROOK – Robert Sommers’ photographic show, “Hits and Near Misses” opened July 3 at Brandon Gallery, 105 N. Main Ave. The show will continue through Aug. 1 with a special reception scheduled for Thursday, July 10, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Sommers, an art dealer, photographer and writer, has made his home in Fallbrook for the last 34 years. He owns Blue Heron Gallery, which has been open in Fallbrook since 1997.

In discussing his passion for photography, Sommers said, “I have been drawn to photography all of my life. I’m not really sure if it was a case of nature or nurture. Maybe a little of both. My father was an army photographer in World War II, was instrumental in processing a shot of the earliest atomic blast.”

“I think that the first shot I personally took was with my stepfather’s twin lens rollie way back in 1962 or 63 in Las Cruces,” said Sommers. “It gave me a real early appreciation for grain and black and white work that has stayed with me. I would often tear photographs out of Life and Look (magazines) and paste them on the walls of my cubicle at an early age.”

Sommers said he started out as a painter in college, “but I came up with a case of multiple cancers and the doctors told me I had to get away from the pigments and solvents. I still miss them greatly. I had an artistic itch to scratch. So, I headed back to photography.”

In the public’s reaction to his art, Sommers said, “The thing about taking pictures is that everybody responds differently. You can gravitate towards images that mean something to the artist and that maybe spark an emotive chord and sometimes they can be lost on the world. Or you can always take the slightly safer route and pander to the crowd that just wants to see something pretty. I try both approaches with varying degrees of success.”