Images in Color 
John Mercer, Patricia Mercer, Alice Steinhardt
May 30-July 8, 1978

San Francisco CAMERAWORK Gallery presented an exhibition of photography by three artists who work with color in their imagery, Patricia Mercer and John Mercer of Sonoma, and Alice Steinhardt from Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

Both Ms. Steinhardt and Ms. Mercer work with the old, recently revived process of hand coloring photographs originally shot in B&W. The artists each bring their individual color sensitivity and subject matter concerns to their image making. Alice Steinhardst carefully composes details of adobe structures, plants and common beach artifacts and adds strong pastel colorings which create a sense of freshness and a string of unreality. Patricia MErcer shoots pastoral natural settings are close range. Her prints are often sepia toned and then handcolored to add a sense of age to the images. They are delicate observations rearranged slightly by the use of a very selective color perception. John Mercer, whose work has been shown often in the Bay area, is currently exhibiting a body of Cibachrome color prints which are largely concerned with the interplay between light and details of an environment--details which become at once both formal and intimate. Mundane objects become monumental as light modulates over the surface to make some areas brilliant against deep shadows. The delight in color and texture is evident in the use of natural light. 

From left to right: Untitled, John Mercer; Everything That Rises Must Converge, Alice Steinhardt, 1978; Untitled, Patricia Mercer; 
Press Release postcard