Aloha … from BethC Gifford raises money for March of Dimes
World traveler shares images from around the globe in Gifford Gallery
RANDOLPH, Aug. 4, 2010 – Dean Mogavero of Randolph has traveled the world.
His fascination with foreign places began when he was just a child, living in Chittenden County, visiting England and dreaming of even grander adventures.
“Castles, double decker buses and arcade games on seaside piers … (those are) really cool to any little kid,” says Mogavero. “Luckily for me, I was able to see them all while visiting my mom’s side of the family in England.”
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Provided/Dean Mogavero A sign on a partially refurbished house in Turkey boasts “luxury apartments for rent/sale” while the other half seems a bit less than luxurious. _____________________________________________________ |
“Those trips,” says Mogavero, “made me curious about other places. By the age of 13, I was making frequent visits to the local travel agencies in Burlington to pick up various tour package brochures. Contained within their pages were the expected blue sky, beach and scenic photos. However, they also held pictures and short descriptions of the sights to see. So started my determination to do some traveling.”
And travel he has.
Taking advantage of frequent flier miles and other discounts, carting a backpack and lodging mostly in cheap hotels and hostels, Mogavero has traveled to more than 100 countries. His most recent trip took him to Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, Australia and New Zealand.
Along the way, with a point and shoot camera – first a 35 mm and then a digital beginning in a 2004 – Mogavero has photographed some of the people, places, cultures, architecture, scenery and oddities he’s seen along the way.
And now Mogavero is sharing those images with Gifford Medical Center patients, visitors and the public at the Gifford Gallery.
His show opened Aug. 4 and continues through Oct. 6. It includes images of an Afghan market held between border posts on an island in the river Pyanj, dividing Tajikistan and Afghanistan. There are boats left high and dry by the shrinking Aral Sea in a formerly busy fishing port, the Giorgi Chitaia Museum of Ethnography in Tbilisi containing architecture from different periods of Georgian history, and a mixture of city and desert vistas.
For Mogavero, who works at Gifford, this is his first trip to a gallery as the artist. He has no plans to take up photography as a profession or invest in a top of the line camera, however. Traveling as backpacker with a bulky camera is impractical and a security hazard. He’s also not interested in spending his future travels gazing only through a lens.
“I am afraid having a better camera would make me spend too much time looking for the next shot and miss out on all that is around me,” he says.
He’s rather sharing his snapshots so others can see some of the world he has seen. And he encourages others to see these places firsthand. “Get your guidebooks and passports and get out there,” he says.
Make your first trip to the Gifford Gallery. It’s at the medical center in Randolph at 44 Main Street (or off Route 12). The show is free and open to the public. Call the hospital at (802) 728-7000 or Volunteer Coordinator Julie Fischer at (802) 728-2324 to learn more.