Rural utopia through a lens

WHYY’s Arts + Culture reporter Peter Crimmins has hand-picked events not to miss.  See what’s on his list this week:

Stalking the Wild Asparagus Photography opening and discussion

Remember the days when young men let their beards grow, young ladies wore shapeless dresses, they tended lettuce beds and learned to play the mandolin? Oh, right – as it was, it ever shall be. “Stalking The Wild Asparagus” was the name of a book published in 1962 about foraging and living off the grid. The Print Center took its title, if not its spirit, and applied it to a show of photography about rural utopias. Oh, goodness, the lushness of unspoiled countryside is in full effect here, all green and golden. You can see a father squirt milk directly from a cow utter into the mouth his long-haired son (or daughter?…who can tell?). Some of the featured photographers are children of New Age foragers, so they have a second-generation perspective on the Vaseline-lens ideals of their parents. On Thursday the Center will host a panel discussion with the four photographers from around the country. They will dispense aesthetic wisdom and perhaps explain the difference between a good mushroom and a bad one.

Thursday, December 16 The Print Center 1614 Latimer Street www.printcenter.org (215) 735-6090 Stalking the Wild Asparagus runs through March 5, 2011.