Alumnus showcases his ’Beautiful Pictures’

Three scant years after graduating from Binghamton University, Peter Guttman ’76 trekked to Ray, N.D., to catch a glimpse of a total eclipse.

Guttman and a friend slept on a bus and huddled in a telephone booth until they rented a car to seek out the perfect backdrop for his image. When they found it, they began to build a snowman with all of the essentials — charcoal eyes, a carrot nose and a piece of corn for the mouth.

“We were working rather feverishly out in the field,” Guttman said. “The sweat in my hair soon turned to icicles and icicles started poking my eyes out.”

To keep warm, Guttman wore his extra pair of underwear as a hat — and his partner in crime soon followed. After being questioned by a state trooper who witnessed the unusual scene, they returned to work. Eventually, Guttman captured an image of the snowman in front of a barn with the total eclipse behind it.

This was the photograph that earned Guttman his first appointment in National Geographic and is featured in his new exhibit, “Beautiful Pictures,” at the Binghamton University Art Museum.

The award-winning photographer and travel journalist returned to his alma mater to give a talk for the exhibit’s opening on Jan. 25, in the museum’s main gallery.

At the talk, Guttman used his descriptive language and storytelling abilities to share his extensive journeys about capturing photos, along with the histories behind them.

One photo reveals an aerial view of tulip fields in the Netherlands, which he described as a “fragrant carpet of colored geometry.” Another shows the inside perspective of an African village that Guttman said “looks like pottery” with its clay mold and tribal-patterned huts.

The exhibit features bold and colorful images taken from his travels in the United States and abroad. The subjects and settings change in scenery, mood, angles, colors and locations.

Guttman’s creativity drives him toward these scenes, but he finds fulfillment in learning about the people and places along the way.

“I used to be an incurable information collector,” Guttman said. “Binghamton University’s (alumni) magazine actually did a piece a couple years back and the quote I like the best didn’t come from me but they put it in the magazine: ‘Before Google there was Guttman.’”

His curiosity for the world around him led him to become a geography major as an undergraduate. He also ventured through the surrounding areas and during his trips between class and his home in Queens, N.Y., Guttman said that he always took a different route.

“I never went the same way twice,” he said. “I always explored the little towns and villages that I discovered because I was falling in love with upstate New York.”

According to Guttman, he appreciated the colors and seasons that the upstate wilderness had to offer. The images he captured on camera were featured in his first book.

“When you fall in love with the world, you can harvest many of its wonders,” he said.

Guttman also shared his feelings about being one of the few photographers left who is shooting film instead of using digital photography.

“Just out of curiosity — is there anyone here that primarily shoots film?” he asked the audience.

With the lack of a response, he went on to describe the ephemeral use of film in a digital world. For Guttman, film is his chosen medium.

“It’s the difference between grain on film and pixels on a digital screen,” he said. “There is a certain sculptural depth and richness that can be seen on film that you just cannot get on a digital screen.”

Although Guttman prefers film, he does have his photos digitized in order to share them on Instagram and in his photo-travel app, “Beautiful Planet,” which is also featured in the exhibit for viewers to flip through.

Guttman has traveled to seven continents and more than 220 countries. He has authored eight books and is currently working on two more. After a career that has spanned more than 30 years, Guttman has no plans to slow down. He still has other countries and scenes on his to-do list.

His motivation is a limited lifespan.

“As an insurance policy in case there is no reincarnation — the only way to cheat Mother Nature is to cram as many experiences into one lifetime as possible,” he said.

“Beautiful Pictures” is open to the public during regular gallery hours. It will conclude on Thursday, March 1, with a mid-day concert at 1:20 p.m. featuring musical compositions inspired by Guttman’s photography and written by students of Daniel Thomas Davis, an assistant professor of music at Binghamton University.