The crowd listens to the Northwest Phot Club members talk about the show and their art. (Photo: Maleka Fruean)

The Northwest Photo Club only started two years ago, but its members showcase the wealth of artistic talent and life experiences that represent the Northwest section of Philadelphia. 

The group puts both on full display in their first collective show, “Urban Wild”, hosted by the Cope House Gallery in the Awbury Arboretum. Running until Feb. 27, the exhibit highlights nature all throughout the Wissahickon, Awbury, and other spaces in the Northwest.

It’s also the first group show at the Awbury Arboretum. The Cope House has been hanging art on its walls for years, but since 2021, it has made it more formalized with an official Awbury Art Committee.

Committee Vice Chair Sara Robbins works with seven other working artists to decide who they will host for their six shows a year. Shows have always featured one artist, until the Northwest Photo Club applied as a group. 

Robbins says when they got the application from Northwest Photo Club, they knew they wanted to work with them to bring the vision together. The art committee left it up to them to curate the show’s pieces, but they did ask for a theme, ideally drawing in Awbury Arboretum in some way. 

The exhibit’s opening reception and artist talk on Saturday, Jan. 10, was packed, with folks from all over coming out to support the artists.

Folks listened to the members of the Club talk about their photography process and practice, and why they chose specific pieces for the show. 

All 17 members of the Northwest Photo Club have varying degrees of experience in their photography practice.

Van Williams, who lives in Mt. Airy, says he’s been a “shutterbug” — one who loves capturing photos — since he was 12 years old.

Williams finds a lot of joy and peace in his photography practice now, enjoying walking around the neighborhood and taking photos of nature. He has really appreciated the creative community of the Northwest Photo Club. 

“Well, the photo club has just been a real inspiration. It’s a group of us that are from diverse backgrounds, and we are at different levels of photography. We’re able to help each other out to critique,” he said. 

One of his pieces in the exhibit is a beautiful photo of a Norway Maple tree, with golden yellow leaves. He brought it to the Club and could not remember where he had taken it, thinking it must be in the Wissahickon. When he looked back at his photos, he laughed, realizing that it was shot in the Acme parking lot in Chestnut Hill. 

One of the newer photographers in the Club is Naseem Baksh. Baksh used to be the Ambassador Coordinator at Awbury Arboretum and lives in the Olney neighborhood. She was actually the one to suggest the Arboretum as the host site.

Baksh doesn’t normally have much time to dedicate to her photography practice. But, she made it a priority, taking classes with Mt. Airy Learning Tree and getting tips from her fellow Northwest Photo Club photographers. The pieces she has in the show are some of her class assignments.

Baksh loved the great turnout for the show and how much the Club has grown. “Sometimes you just think… you start someplace, you never know where you’re going to end up,” Baksh said, after reflecting on her photography journey as well.

And then there’s Gary Reed, of Germantown. Reed is one of the more experienced photographers in the group, taking photos for decades. But for Reed, this group came at a time when he really needed it.

He had a stroke in the summer of 2022, which required a long rehabilitation and recovery period. 

A friend had been telling him about the Northwest Photo Club, but he was hesitant at first. This was about a year ago. Reed had lost his vision after the stroke, but did regain it. The Club became a part of his healing and recovery, allowing him to ease back into the world of taking pictures. 

His pieces in the exhibit are part of a new series he is working on, capturing all four seasons near the Schuylkill River. Reed appreciates the abundance of the outdoors that the Northwest region of Philly offers.

“We’re lucky enough to have greenery around here. We have wonderful flowers. We have this wonderful park system that literally you can walk, leave a building, and be here in the middle of a forest. There’s certain sections of Germantown and Mount Airy where you can actually walk into the park. We have this lovely, beautiful river, the historical river right here,” said Reed.

Reed says he still has a long way to go in his recovery, but the Club has aided his way of rediscovering photography after such a huge change in his body.

Roz Dutton, of Mt. Airy, formed the Northwest Photo Club alongside fellow photographer Ken Crimaldi two years ago in March. She’s a retired psychotherapist and turned 80 years old right around the time the Urban Wild exhibit opened. 

Dutton received a camera from her spouse, but her journey into photography was not the most straightforward. She was born cross-eyed, and even after multiple surgeries, she still does not have depth perception. She says it has been a challenge to look at something and try to make it her own vision.

Part of the reason she enjoys the Club is seeing how people’s work changes and grows. But it’s also because she wants to get better. 

“When I was retiring from being a therapist, what I said to myself and others was, now I’m gonna be the best photographer I can be,” said Dutton. 

 “And so I feel like, you know, that’s really kind of why I keep doing this. I want to get better and better and see where I end up.”

The show runs until February 27, 2026, so neighbors and art lovers have time to stop by and see all the photos on display.

The gallery is open Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and by appointment on Friday through Sunday by contacting artcommittee@awbury.org.

Maleka Fruean is Germantown Info Hub’s community organizer, a writer, and mother of four, all raised in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. She has a B.A. in journalism from Temple University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from St. Joseph’s University, and uses both to embrace the power of stories.