By Carrie Stanziola

Such are the words of Charles Daniels, one local artist who is featured in The Nave Gallery’s Plastic + Film: An Exhibition of Toy Camera Photography exhibit.  Daniels, whose work encapsulates his life and includes such subjects as female nudes, musicians and Somerville’s own Rosebud Diner, is one of the 22 artists featured in Plastic + Film.  His work, along with artists from such diverse locales as England, Hong Kong, California, and Oregon, as well as local artists including Somerville High School students, will be on display until May 21.  Especially noteworthy are local artist Mary Kocol’s Green House with Pink Dogwood and Rain House, which capture the unique look of Somerville homes.

Although many artists have gone digital in recent years, “film will always be an attraction” for Daniels, who still believes in the medium and that not everything in life has to be perfect and exact.  As he puts it, “Whenever everyone buys the same Nikon or the same Canon…photos look the same.”  Not so with toy cameras, in which the artist always produces something different and unique with each shot.  There is a sense of what the result is, Daniels adds, but there is “still a mystery”, and the process of using a toy camera makes the artist think a bit about what he or she is doing.  Daniels, for instance, only takes about two shots per day.

He points out two remarkably similar shots, taken, respectively on the bustling streets of Hong Kong and London. Everything one artist does has already been done by another, Daniels remarks; Jimi Hendrix and Beethoven played the same notes.

Daniels, who was born in Alabama at a time when “it wasn’t cool to be black,” has lived in Somerville for the past 20 years and has seen the growth and changes in the city firsthand, noting that the popularity of the city increased with the addition of the Davis T-Stop.  Though he has only a seventh-grade education and is a self-taught photographer, Daniels has created art locally as well as internationally in Germany and the Czech Republic.

To see Daniels’ and other photographer’s work, visit the Nave gallery on 155 Powderhouse Blvd. from now until May 21.  Residents are encouraged to visit on May 15.  On that day, the gallery will be open from 1-5 pm, and visitors can have their picture taken with a toy camera by Charles Daniels for only 10 dollars.  100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Japanese Mashiko Potters Fund, which was destroyed in the earthquake. From 3-5 pm, visitors can also enjoy light refreshments and meet exhibiting artists.