The Eastern Shore Art Center, 401 Oak Ave. in Fairhope, will host an opening reception for its June exhibits during First Friday ArtWalk, June 1, from 6-8 p.m.

Wine, beer and hor d’oeuvres will be served, along with live music. Admission is free for members and $2 for non-members.

Whiting Gallery, A Day in the Life… along the Eastern Shore:

Photographers were asked to document daily life on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay for a 24-hour period on April 13.

Professionals, amateurs and students all descended on the Eastern Shore, from Spanish Fort to Point Clear, to make photographs documenting our community. Our mission was to photograph as many aspects of life in our community as possible. The result was over 600 photographs narrowed down to 65 for the exhibition.

The book features the 65 photographs selected for the exhibition and will be available for purchase for $25 at ESAC.

Woolley Gallery, Alabama Photo Book Project:

In 2003, Stephen Savage, Kim Pearson and Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. began a collaboration of which the Alabama Photo Book Project is the fruit. Savage and Pearson are professional photographers who have lived in Alabama for many years. Kennedy is a letterpress printer who divides his time between Alabama and northern Italy. He recently moved his letterpress shop from York, Alabama to Akron, Alabama.

In Cameri, Italy where Kennedy has a bindery (Legatoria del Gallo Nero), he met Alberto Casiraghi, an artist who calls himself the Baker of Books because every day he publishes a small edition of hand-printed, hand-bound books which include an original piece of art. The two have produced several books together.

Wanting to develop the concept of Casiraghi's work in the U.S.A., Kennedy sought out artists interested in developing a collaborative art project in Alabama.

Savage and Pearson brought together a group of Alabama photographers interested in combining their work with letterpress printing, and the Alabama Photo Book Project was born.

Each book contains a photograph and text selected by the photographer. At the Kennedy Prints letterpress shop, the texts were printed with wood and metal engravings on German-made Hahnemühle paper.

The wood engravings are the work of Adriano Porazzi, who carves exquisite images in boxwood. The books were hand-sewn and each one is hand-decorated with watercolors. Each book is unique and part of an edition of 50.

Participating photographers include Pearson, Savage, Pinky/MM Bass, Tom Loehr, Catt Sirten, Kelly Kleinschrodt, Keith Necaise, McLeod Turner, Susan Steber Kangal, Molly Dugan, Martha Davidson, Erin Hilburn, Mary Riser, Kristy Johnson-Snell, William Bunce, Kathy Freters, Russell Goodloe, Glenn House and Rebekah Phillips.

Savage will give a gallery talk about this unique project on Tuesday, June 12 at noon.

Wilson Gallery, South by Southeast, Photographs by J. Russell Goodloe Jr.:

Dr. Goodloe, a native Alabamian, practiced orthodontics in Mobile for over 30 years. He pursued photography as an avocation from 1990 until he retired in 2000 from his dental practice and began to concentrate more fully on photography.

He works in color and black and white digital imaging. Goodloe recently visited Southeast Asia and the Antarctic — two land masses that could hardly be more different.

Antarctica is the coldest place on earth; Southeast Asia is one of the hottest. Antarctica has no permanent population; Southeast Asia is densely populated. Antarctica has very little plant life; Southeast Asia has an impressive amount of diverse vegetation.

Both Southeast Asia and the Antarctic are rich in imagery. These photographs were taken to document the life of two very unique continents.

Goodloe will give a gallery talk about his travels and exhibition June 5 at noon.

The gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday, 10-2. All exhibits will hang through the end of June.

For more information, call 928-2228.