Don't call photographer Ira Block's exhibit at the Ordover Gallery a retrospective. Not unless you want him to tell you exactly what he thinks about that label.
"I hate it when they use the name 'retrospective,'" he said from his home in New York City. "That means people who aren't working anymore. I'm still actively working for 'National Geographic' and other clients."
Block has been working for "National Geographic" for more than 30 years. He traveled all around the globe to take photographs for the prestigious publication -- from people in Central America to polar bears in the Arctic.
"Obviously, working for 'National Geographic,' I've traveled to a vast array of interesting places," he said. "The work takes me to extreme parts of the Earth, from the coldest places to the hottest places."
Block is known for his storytelling skill, a skill he says is really about doing the legwork and research. He also likes to interject a sense of humor when he can.
"I try to capture something upbeat or funny or quirky," he explained. "A lot of people have a good eye, so they can compose and take a good picture. I have to take the concept and make a story for the magazine. I have to educate the readers so they can learn something about the story.
"If I'm doing a story about a river, I don't just go down the river taking pictures as I go. That's not the kind of story we tell -- that would be more of a record. I try to piece together concepts about the river with photographs that show how people relate to the river."
Recently, he's been photographing stories about dinosaurs and archaeology, the kind of story where he can't just go find a couple of dinosaurs to snap. For instance, in a recent story about the Bering Strait, he needed photographs to illustrate this ancient land bridge that no longer exists.
"I found these two islands with a mountain on each -- Little Diomede and Big Diomede -- that are a mile from each other and were once part of the land bridge. Little Diomede is in the U.S. and Big Diomede is part of Russia," he said. "I chartered a plane and took pictures of them from the air."
Another time his camera told a story was in the aftermath of 9/11. He was home when the planes struck the Twin Towers. Some of those photographs are in this exhibit.
"I travel a lot, but that day I was home," he recalled. "I live only a mile from where the towers were. But I preferred photographing Tribeca a year later on assignment from 'National Geographic.' That's a big residential and shopping area close to the towers, and I got to show how it was coming back. I liked focusing on rebuilding rather than destruction. Even so, I rarely show these photographs in New York City -- New Yorkers are more sensitive to those images."
Block is hoping to share his insights on photography at a talk at 5 p.m. Saturday.
"I want to share with people that they need to think before they push the shutter," he said. "It's all about training yourself to think a bit so that when they see a good photograph, they understand what they're doing."
"The World of Ira Block"
When: Today through July 19; gallery hours, 10 a.m-5p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon-5p.m. Sundays
Where: The Ordover Gallery, 410 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: Free
Info: (858) 720-1121
