PRINCETON, NJ Restaurant Dining Guide Announcement

Friends of Princeton Open Space Announces Photo Exhibition at Small World Coffee Nov 3 - Dec 6

Opening Reception:
Friday, November 5, 5PM to 7PM
featuring jazz guitar by Ilan Eisenzweig
Small World Coffee
14 Witherspoon Street
Princeton

Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) is presenting a group show hosted by Small World Coffee of photographs taken at Princeton's Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve in the winter of 2020. The works will be shown at Small World's location on Witherspoon Street in downtown Princeton. The show includes photos selected from submissions made to the Friends of Princeton Open Space's annual Give Thanks for Nature Photo Contest, as well as aerial photographs of the Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve taken by Princeton photographer Frank Sauer. All photos will be offered for sale with a portion of the sales benefitting the Friends of Princeton Open Space.

The show's title references the range of subjects and activities that the photographers captured within Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve's 75 acres of protected public land—reflecting its use as a place of recreation, contemplation, and artistic inspiration, as well as its value as habitat for a variety of native flora and fauna. Sauer's aerial perspective situates the Preserve within the larger landscape and highlights its importance to the ecological health of the community. With its upper and lower lakes, numerous rocky creeks, wooded wetlands, and upland forests, the Preserve holds a diverse range of ecosystems, which are made accessible via over eight miles of trails maintained by Friends of Princeton Open Space and its community of volunteers.

The Give Thanks for Nature contest kicks off each year on the day after Thanksgiving in celebration of Recreational Equipment, Inc.'s (REI) Opt Outside program, which encourages everyone to skip the malls and head outdoors on what is typically the busiest shopping day of the year. 2020 was the 6th year of the contest, which is co-sponsored each year by REI's Princeton store. To date, the contest has been limited to photographs taken in the Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve between the kick-off day and January 31st of the following year. The 2021 contest will expand that scope to include the Woodfield Reservation, where FOPOS volunteers also do trail maintenance work.

FRIENDS OF PRINCETON OPEN SPACE (FOPOS) is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization devoted to acquiring open space in Princeton for preservation, protecting natural resources, maintaining accessibility to trails, and providing environmental education. FOPOS also works with groups in the Princeton region to support efforts to preserve and protect open space and the environment. Founded in 1969, FOPOS is based in the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve—a 75-acre public park that sits at the center of 400 acres of protected public land.

REI PRINCETON provides outdoor enthusiasts in the Princeton, New Jersey, area with top-brand gear and clothing for camping, climbing, cycling, fitness, hiking, paddling, travel and more. We're a complete Princeton-area bike shop, offering a full range of professional bike shop services to help keep you biking the streets and trails year-round. Let our staff of friendly experts help you get ready for your next adventure.

FRANK SAUER has been photographing Princeton's Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve for more than eight years. In collaboration with FOPOS and the Arts Council of Princeton, thirty of his photos were shown in the 2017 exhibit Mountain Lakes: A Lens on the Seasons. Sauer recently started taking images of Mountain Lakes from the air with a small drone. In the aerial photographs, the familiar landscape takes on a freshly unfamiliar look; structures and patterns – both natural and man-made – become newly visible. Sixteen of these aerial photos will be included in the November 2021 show at the Small World Coffee. They add an extra perspective on the Mountain Lakes area and complement the set of photos from the Mountain Lakes photo competition. franksauer.smugmug.com