The Newsmagazine of Long Beach Island and Southern Ocean County

By Victoria Ford | on September 01, 2022

Like the fog for which it was named, prominent local photographer Ann Coen’s first-ever solo exhibit and season finale at her Beach Haven pop-up gallery rolled stealthily in and out – a matter of right place, right time, for those lucky enough to catch it.

The Thursday night reception for “As the Fog Rolls in” had viewers staring at cloud formations and finding shapes, reacting to the negative space, discussing visual texture, and reflecting on childhood memories. After dark, the gallery-turned-nightclub beckoned, its walls freshly painted black to emphasize the artwork. Completing the effect were the DJ, string lights and fog machine.

“I just thought that was so cool,” Coen said.

At the heart of the show were 11 new images from one special day on the bay when everything came together perfectly. Coen finally found the opportunity to share a piece of herself and seized it.

After shooting, she said, “I was stoked about them. I wanted to show these. I just wanted to see them big” – as in, 40 by 60 inches big. More than mere “pretty photos,” Coen said, they are works of art. “You want people to feel something.”

For several viewers the feeling was tension. Mixed with awe and a certain (or uncertain?) magic. Imposing skies call attention to our smallness.

“As the Fog Rolls in” straddled a tenuous boundary between peace and turmoil, as observed by art lover and digital photographer mandala artist Carol Nussbaum of Loveladies, symbolic of the constant push-pull of human existence.

Nussbaum attended with friend and fellow artist, abstract painter Joan Gantz of Harvey Cedars, who was equally haunted and enchanted by the work.

When an artist speaks, Gantz said, the message “resonates throughout the community, which is more important than whether or not it makes ‘sense.’ It’s something to gnaw on.”

On what fog teaches: “You have to be ready,” Coen said. “You don’t know when it’s going to come in, you don’t when it’s going to go out. The day really inspired me.”

Still, the artist confessed to feeling a bit exposed, 18 years into a successful career in portrait and wedding photography.

“I never thought I had a cohesive show or thought anything made sense together or was good enough” for a solo exhibit, she explained. When the pop-up space came into her life, “I was like, ‘Man, maybe I could do one exhibit,’” but at summer’s start, she didn’t have anything specific in mind.

Then, that day, she knew.

“That’s my solitude,” she said. “In the middle of the bay is the only time I relax.”

Accompanying the new work were numerous large, framed photographs Coen had hanging in her inner sanctum, i.e. the “awesome little backyard studio” she had built in Barnegat Light when she sold her Surf City gallery, before the pandemic.

The show’s brevity of duration echoed the limited-engagement nature of the space itself, temporary from the start. The whole summer has been a magical moment in time, but it may end soon. The building is for sale, so its future is uncertain. Coen said she really wanted to bring people together at a chill summer get-together – reminiscent of her backyard parties in Surf City, always a who’s-who of Island night owls and culture hounds – while there was still time.

The thematic tension was reflected in the imagery, of nature poised in a momentary state of transition.

Fog obscures. Fog evolves. Water calms. Water threatens. Clouds are dreamlike. Playful. Sneaky. All of it is impermanent. Like life itself.

“That’s what was killing me, shooting it, because this was only there for a second. There was a million boats behind that cloud, and you couldn’t even see it. So, then it would lift – all the boats came, and it would be bright sun – and then the fog would come down again. That whole image was completely different in the next half hour as I was shooting.

“So I was like, ‘Oh my God, thank God I got it.’”

Coen has made a name for herself by showing others in their best light and hosting other artists’ work in her galleries over the years. Having the spotlight on her was “stressful,” she admitted. But a handful of close supporters urged her to step outside her comfort zone and realize, “every step of the journey brings you to a new place.”

In that way, the show was deeply personal for Coen, a glimpse of her current place in an ongoing journey.

“This is what’s inspiring me right now,” she said.

What the experience of revealing herself has taught her is the necessity of persistent forward motion and belief in self, hard as it may be.

“You have to keep doing (creative work),” she said. “That’s all it is.”

Her supporters couldn’t be prouder – especially her son Archie, 10.

“I was with my mom on the boat when she was taking some of the photos in her show, and it was cool to see them big on the walls,” he said. “All the artists and all the shows were cool, and I had fun being in Beach Haven all summer. I hope my mom can do it again next year, too.”

Seconding that was Ryan Johnson of Tuckerton, who joined Coen’s team years ago. “I’m stoked she finally did something (for herself),” he said. “It’s been forever. I think this is her fourth gallery, and she finally did something. I’m stoked.”

In the opinion of art lover and friend Crystal Froberg, Coen is “so practical, but so magical.” She said she is happy to see Coen “finally showing herself” and to be “seeing her heart in a different way.”

Coen’s exhibition is “her love, her land, her home,” Froberg said. She added she likes that the works are untitled, “because you get to experience the photo in your own way. I find them intense, and in-depth, and there’s a story in there for me to find.”

Longtime colleague, photographer Chris Pfeil, said he was glad Coen saw her chance and went for it. The two have always supported and influenced each other.

After taking in the whole show, Pfeil said, “The red marker and the marshland is one of those pictures where you can sit and look at it for a while. It doesn’t say a lot off the bat – it’s got the marker, it’s got the beautiful colors – but it’s calming afterwards. You can keep looking it.”

The lingering effect is subtle, he added.

“It’s a scene you see normally, but it’s done right.”

He agreed with the choice to print them in impactful dimensions.

“They’re definitely big pictures,” he said. “There’s a lot of space involved, so they work well that size.” He also praised the layout of the gallery itself – spaced out well, not too cluttered, a good balance.

According to Tanek Hood of West Creek, “we need more of these events,” gesturing toward and through the open back door to the dance floor within, just starting to awaken.

“That picture right there,” he said. “More of that.”

As for the exhibition, he said, “It’s awesome.” His and Coen’s families have known each other for ages.

“We’ve seen Archie grow up and seen her transition as an artist,” Hood said. “It’s been awesome to watch, and easy to support. Very easy to support. Good times.”

Just then, Samantha DiPietro walked out and immediately recognized Hood’s shirt from her family-owned retail store, Sink R Swim in Haven Beach, and the two greeted each other warmly.

DiPietro had just finished touring the gallery. Her impression, in a word: “Inspiring.” Even with little to no color in the images, she said, they evoke emotion.

“She made something beautiful out of a bummer. Like, you wake up (on a cloudy day) and it’s a bummer, but it’s actually not.”

Then again, she added, seeing the silver lining is Coen’s specialty.

If she’s still occupying the space this fall and winter, she said, she’ll be open for Chowderfest weekend in October and for holiday marts, pop-ups or whatever the forecast may hold.

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