| In the news |
| Photos by Jerry Tyson Lisbon, Ohio Contents copyrighted by Jerry Tyson. All rights reserved |
| Photographer keeps odd hours to get just the right shot of his home town By TOM GIAMBRONI /Staff Writer Morning Journal POSTED: June 7, 2009 LISBON -Because of Jerry Tyson, Lisbon residents and others are gaining a new perspective of the village. Buildings and views in Lisbon that have become common place images to most residents and others as they hurry about their everyday life appear as if to be of another town after photographed by Tyson, who is the man behind the colorful painting-like photographs and postcards appearing around town and on the Internet. "It's like looking at Lisbon in a different light, like seeing Lisbon for the first time," he said of his photographs. Tyson's subjects - the Columbiana County Courthouse, the Lepper Library, the Old Stone House, the village square - have probably been photographed undoubtedly resulted in double-takes from people who wondered if they were looking at a photograph or painting. Tyson's work is featured in a calendar being sold to raise money for the Johnny Appleseed Festival, and postcards can also be found at the True Value and Bye & Bye's Hardware stores in Lisbon. Photographs can also be viewed online by just typing in "Jerry Tyson Lisbon Ohio" or going to You Tube, where Tyson has a slide show of photographs set to music. "I just really like this town, and as I experimented and the photos got better and I started showing them to people and seeing their reaction, it kind of fed my hunger to do more," he said. Tyson, 38, who operates a chimney sweep and chimney repair business, took up photography about five years ago to record his two children playing sports. Pretty soon his was taking photographs of their teammates and giving copies to parents. To save money on printing costs, Tyson switched from a 35 mm camera to a sophisticated digital camera, which made it easier for him to employ the common process that resulted in the appearance of his photographs. Tyson then set about taking photographs of Lisbon landmarks and everyday buildings and scenes, but with special attention to lighting, which he said is key. You won't find Tyson out in the middle of the day, partially due to his job, but more importantly because the best time of day to capture the right lighting is at an hour before dawn and the period before and after dusk. The rest is patience and luck. "Some days I won't have anything in mind as far as what I'm going to take a picture of. I will just leave my house (on Pritchard Street) before the sun comes up, and I'll just drive downtown and set up in a parking lot and wait to see where the sky begins to change colors" and pick a building in line with the best light, he said. The window of opportunity opens and shuts quickly, according to Tyson, who pointed to particular photograph set against a crimson sunrise. "The sky was every bit that red when the photograph was taken, but that sky was only that red for 30 to 40 seconds," he said. Tyson estimated he takes more than 500 photographs per week, and they have struck a chord with not only locals but people who grew up in Lisbon and moved away, with his Internet photographs providing them with an ability to reconnect with their home town, no matter the distance. "They comment how nice it is that even though they live somewhere else they can still see Lisbon, Ohio," Tyson said. "I had some guy in the military e-mail me who is from Lisbon but was stationed abroad, and he said it was just great to able to type in Lisbon and see his home town in that manner." Tyson gives the photographs away, and whatever money he makes on the postcards goes back to producing more. "I'm not in this at all to make money," he said. Tyson isn't the least bit surprised his home town looks so beautiful to others because that's how he had seen it his entire life. He said people just need to take a second everyday to appreciate Lisbon. "You take things for granted, but this is Lisbon," he said of the photographs. "You're just not looking at it the right way." |
Jerry Tyson©
The First Christian Church on East Washington st. Lisbon, Ohio.