Depth of Field: The Baseball Photographs of David Levinthal

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(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Poet Laureate Donald Hall once wrote, "Baseball...is a place where memory gathers." The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has gathered two dozen baseball memories in the form of riveting photographs created by acclaimed artist David Levinthal for its newest exhibit, "Depth of Field: The Baseball Photographs of David Levinthal," which opens Friday in Cooperstown.

Featuring 24 striking photographs and four figurines, "Depth of Field" features images not of actual baseball players, but of collectible baseball figurines of notable Hall of Famers such as Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Nolan Ryan and Ted Williams, along with other baseball legends, including Kirk Gibson, Rickey Henderson and Pete Rose, plus current-day stars Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki.

Through his original imagery, Levinthal recreates historical moments using mass-marketed toy figurines and deceptively simple props, creating baseball fields with baking-soda baselines, cardboard grandstands and tiny clay bases. Experimenting with focus and dramatic lighting, Levinthal uses an extremely large-format Polaroid camera to produce giant 20" x 24" images, rich in color and stunning detail.

"For my work, I've always used a very, very narrow depth of field, so there's only a small part of the image that's in focus," said Levinthal. "I've found over the years that it gives not only a sense of credibility, but also it sort of breathes life into the figures. They seem animated. They seem to moving."

"Depth of Field" will remain on display through 2007 and is located in the Barry Halper Gallery of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, a temporary exhibit center located on the Museum's first floor. The exhibit has been made possible thanks to the Harry M. Stevens Foundation. Admission is included with the purchase of a Museum ticket.

Imagery included in the exhibit features classic moments in baseball history, such as the elegant swing of DiMaggio, the clenched fist of Gibson, Carlton Fisk's memorable cheer for his 1975 World Series home run to stay fair, a diving Ozzie Smith and many more player traits.