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October Issue 2007
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC, Features Works by Mike Dunn and Juan Pons
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC, will present, Glimpses of Nature, an exhibit of nature and wildlife photography by North Carolina photographers Mike Dunn and Juan Pons. The exhibit on view in the Museum's Nature Art Gallery will be on view from Oct. 5 through Nov. 25, 2007. Viewers will be richly rewarded with compelling views of Yellowstone National Park, the Arctic and of course native wildlife of North Carolina.
Mike Dunn, an educator for the Museum for the last 18 years, has pursued photography and biology concurrently since childhood. Hunting and fishing trips taken with his father instilled him with an appreciation of nature. Rather than a gun or fly rod, Dunn, at an early age, chose a camera for his hunting expeditions into the woods. He earned a degree in Biology from Virginia Tech, a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia, then migrated to North Carolina to pursue a Ph.D. in Marine Sciences at North Carolina State University.
After eight years with North Carolina State Parks, Dunn joined the staff at the Museum where he is Coordinator of Teacher Education. Now he shares his love of nature with educators all across the state and through it all photography has played an important role. Dunn has had numerous articles and photographs published in Wildlife in North Carolina magazine, Carolina Country, Fifteen-501 magazine and frequently contributes articles and photographs to the Museum's Naturalist magazine.
From the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge to Yellowstone and the Arctic to just outside his home in Chatham County, Dunn has captured the beauty around him in a way that is impressive and breathtaking. "Photography is a tool for helping to open people's eyes to the beauty and mystery of the world around us," he says. "It is an aid to telling the story of the magic that surrounds us that we are often too busy to see or appreciate." Dunn also thanks his friend, photographer Juan Pons for convincing him to go digital.
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Pons became interested in photography while attending high school in Massachusetts. There he learned the essentials of light and composition and to develop and process his own black and white prints. In college at Clark University he continued to pursue his interest as a student photographer for the university's communications department and contributor to the school newspaper and yearbook.
The next 14 years were taken up with the demands
of a successful career in computer engineering. But eventually,
the passion Pons' felt for photography took over and with a renewed
vigor, he rekindled his earlier interest. He converted to digital
equipment which he feels gives him the same control he had when
he was developing and printing his own black and white images
years earlier. Pons is also a web consultant, an occasional contributor
and Photo Essays forum moderator for NatureScapes.net, a premiere
nature photography community on the internet.
Being a nature and wildlife photographer also inspired Pons to
become a strong supporter of wildlife and natural habitat conservation
and he belongs to several conservation organizations. He donates
his images to non-profit organizations whose missions are wildlife
and habitat preservation.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery
listings, call the gallery at 919/733-7450 ext. 369 or visit (www.naturalsciences.org).
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Copyright© 2007 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
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