'Mr. Los Gatos' Art Photography Exhibit Now on Display at Town Chambers

The amazing photography art work of the late "Mr. Los Gatos" Peter Carter, who died after a tragic fall at his home this past March, will be on display at Town Hall through Oct. 30 as part of the municipality's Art in the Chamber program.

His widow, Dennise Carter, who serves on the Los Gatos Arts and Culture Commission, explained she spearheaded the exhibit. She said she was motivated by Peter's desire at the end of last year to celebrate his 70th birthday and his wish to do a photo retrospective of his work.

Peter knew the work would be huge and that it would take a lot of time to prepare and he didn't want to have the exhibit around his birthday, but was planning to do it later this year, Dennise said.

Unfortunately, he died March 6 after a tragic fall at his home on Broadway in Los Gatos.

While serving on the Commission, Dennise said it came up that the town needed an exhibit for the Council Chambers and she was delighted when town officials accepted her suggestion of a photography exhibit.

Dennise prepared the artwork with the help of Peter's IT person who knew how to retrieve it from his computer and they selected, printed and matted 100 of his beautiful photographs. The Art Museums of Los Gatos chose 50 of those to hang in the chambers, she said.

The artwork was displayed on three of the chamber's walls just a few days ago and the exhibit's public reception is scheduled at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4 at the chambers, 110 E. Main St.

The reception is hosted by Dennise, the Town of Los Gatos and the Friends of Los Gatos Library. They're inviting the community to join them on the first floor of the old library building for cocktails, refreshments and appetizers.

Los Gatos Mayor Barbara Spector is expected to address the audience inside the chambers before the reception.

The exhibit is open to the public 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday by appointment only calling 408-354-6834. It's also seen during government meetings held inside the chambers.

Dennise described Peter's technique of turning a photograph into what looks like a painting after perfectly framing the images. She said Peter used a five-step process that used Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Topaz Labs and Photoshop and Lightroom again.

"Each image took a long time. An hour, two hours, sometimes four, six hours, until he got the image the way he wanted it. He then printed the image on canvas and framed it as if it was a painting," she said.

Peter used a large printer, "the size of a small car" that has canvas on a roll to print the images, Dennise added.

Some of the images depicted in the collection include local landmarks, and some are Peter's favorite images such as a lighthouse on Nantucket and Aldo's on Santa Cruz Avenue, to name a few.

Peter began taking photos when he was a child, while attending grammar school in Los Gatos. "Someone gave him a Brownie camera and he took photographs ever since," Dennise said. "He actually supported his young family as a student at Georgetown University photographing weddings and political events. He loved taking photographs of people."

She said photography brought Peter much joy. "Peter saw the beauty in every day things and the way he framed them made them special ... He also was a nostalgic person and photos helped him remember the beautiful things in life and the people he had known ... I hope because the images seem so simple and familiar to people that they'll appreciate how beautiful our lives are."