TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Felix Adamo's photographic prints of flowers are truly inventive. With a sure hand and a keen eye, he shows their beauty and complexity in ways I've never seen before.

That's what I felt upon previewing some of the images that will be in his "Fiore & Floret" exhibit, which opens Monday at Valentien. Now I recognize I have a certain bias, having known Felix, a Californian photographer, since he first came to the paper in 1979. But, in my book, his work in the current exhibit is fine art in every sense of the word.

My primary reason for saying that is the uniqueness that makes these limited-edition prints distinctive from any ordinary still life. For example, his photo of a field of wildflowers near Gorman is nothing like the panoramic vistas we're used to seeing in photos. Felix tells me he achieved the unusual effect by setting the camera for a long exposure time, then slowly moving the camera from one side to the other. His technique resulted in a photo that looks more like and abstract painting than a photograph -- gorgeous ribbons of color flowing across the surface.

He's also not averse to using everyday things to create an interesting photo, like his feathery back-lit image of a single red carnation. I asked Felix what he used as a diffusing material to get that effect and here's what he said:

"You know those old-time window blinds that pull down? We have one of those at our house. I stuck the flower behind it and had my son hold down the blind."

An interest in the angles and curves -- the graphic elements -- of animate as well as inanimate objects influences much of his work. It also has led him to explore, and capture, the detailed forms and textures found in botanical subjects.

The exhibit is both retrospective and contemporary; the earliest pieces were done more than 20 years ago. An early print, done as a gift for the 23rd birthday of his wife, Teresa Adamo, is a detailed, close-up black-and-white view of a portion of a daisy. The petals appear to be on an upward path, which I see as a fitting tribute on such an occasion.

Although Felix works full time as the newspaper's chief photographer, he still finds time in off-duty hours for his fine art. Or as he puts it, "When you enjoy doing something, it's not a problem."

Photographic processes in the exhibit include gelatin silver, dye-sublimation and pigment photographs. Images vary in size but nearly all are presented in 16-by-20-inch frames. Each is a limited edition of 45, signed and numbered on the back. The mat also bears the artist's signature.

Fiore, by the way, is an Italian word for flower.

All of the prints will be available for purchase with 25 percent of sales benefitting the Cancer Center at San Joaquin Community Hospital.