Behind the Scenes:
Bookkeeper Shows Her Photographs at Ackerman's
By Lauri Puchall

Chaya Spector is Ackerman's Servicing Volvos bookkeeper. Chaya has run her own business, Bookkeeping Services Etc.--specializing in small businesses and non-profits--for the past ten years. Working on her own gives Chaya the flexibility to travel and photograph the flora and fauna in the exotic places she visits. Most recently she has toured Costa Rica and this coming May she will celebrate her fiftieth birthday in the West Indies. Bruce Ackerman owns several of her works which he displays in the waiting area of Ackerman's Servicing Volvos in a rotating exhibit. Currently a photograph of the Florida everglades enveloped in mist can be seen. Chaya became enamored of the everglades while taking a brief photography class there and is planning another everglade trip in two years, this time to Brazil.

When she is not traveling, Chaya photographs ferns, insects, birds, and roses in her large Oakland garden or the wildlife at Point Reyes. She began making black and white prints while living in Ithaca, New York, and photographing family and friends to document significant events in her life. Later she switched to color nature photography when she discovered traveling. Now she only takes slides with her 35mm camera. She finds that processing slide film is more economical than developing print film and this allows her to shoot an entire roll focusing on a single subject, such as a butterfly, and then print selective images.

Chaya has also exhibited her photographs at Brewberry's in Oakland and at Pro Arts open houses. She likes the coffee house venue because people can enjoy her work while they are sitting around and relaxing. Chaya said, "What I love about photography is that it really slows me down." She becomes acutely aware of everything when she wields her camera, and that is why she is passionate about taking pictures. Chaya is drawn to both people and the design of nature, her primary subject matter. "It is not so much that I want to capture . . . (nature) in terms of stealing the image," she explained, rather she strives to share what she sees.

Click on the thumbnail images to see the enlarged photograph. If you would like more information on Chaya's photography or would like to purchase a print, send E-mail to: chayas@ix.netcom.com.