By the time Eli Dagostino captured the perfect shot of Anthony Esposito, Mr. Esposito seemed close to hypnotized.
“Feel the soul, feel the vibe of the room,” Mr. Dagostino instructed, clicking rapidly on his camera shutter. “One more round. Deep breath, in through the nose,” he continued. “Good. Good. Alright, Anthony, we got it.”
Mr. Esposito is just one of 100 subjects that Mr. Dagostino photographed over four dates in June for the Oak Bluffs Public Library’s Geek The Library project.
Although the Oak Bluffs library is just one of many participating libraries, Sondra Murphy, the library director, decided to take the project one step further.
“We were trying to figure out how to adjust it to our library instead of just having the display, and I said, well we should have a photo shoot,” said Ms. Murphy. “I wanted to have an art exhibit, and I thought, wouldn’t it be so great for community members to come in and see people who they see on the street every day on Circuit Ave.”
On Wednesday evening, August 6, the walls of the library meeting room will be covered in Island faces for the Geek The Library exhibit. A single line of text saying what each person geeks, or loves to do, will accompany each face.
Mr. Dagostino put considerable time and effort into making sure that each photograph captured the essence of the subject’s personality as well as the topic that they geek. Although as a veteran freelance photographer Mr. Dagostino had a very busy June, he was happy to set aside time to participate in this project.
“I could see the photos in my mind when they approached me about the project,” he said. “When my brain shows me the photo, I know that it is meant to be. When I picture someone in my head, and there’s a photo there, then I have to photograph them.”
Mr. Dagostino will attend the exhibit on Wednesday, as well as many of the Islanders who were photographed, but Ms. Murphy also hopes that visitors and summer residents will attend and look at the photographs.
“I think it will be great for summer people to see Islanders because a lot of times they think that we are just sort of waiting around for them to come, when really we’re very active, we’re busy,” said Ms. Murphy.
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