Menlo Park photographer France Freyberg’s work on display at two local galleries

Fans of Menlo Park-based photographer Frances Freyberg who can’t wait for her new exhibit to open at the Portola Art Gallery in Menlo Park on February 1, can currently see photos from her worldwide travels on display at the Mercy Center Gallery.

The Mercy exhibit, which runs through Feb. 28, includes scenes from Frances’ travels to more than 60 countries, along with a selection of local nature and flower photographs. Highlights include early morning clouds over Machu Picchu, Peru (below); brightly tiled houses in Porto, Portugal; the lakeside village of Hallstatt, Austria; a quiet canal in Venice, Italy; and colorful parasols in Luang Prabang, Laos. Mercy Center is located at 2300 Adeline Rd. in Burlingame.

Scenes from the Silk Road  — photographs of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Syria — is the title of Frances’ Portola Art Gallery exhibit, which also runs through Feb. 28.  The photographs feature landscapes, cityscapes, market scenes and portraits from her 2012 travels through Central Asia, as well as her 2008 travels through the Middle East. Highlights include the blue-domed Mir-i Arab madrassa in Bukhara, Uzbekistan; fields of wildflowers in the Fann Mountains of Tajikistan (bottom); village girls in the Karakum desert of Turkmenistan (top, right) ; and spices and headscarves for sale in Damascus, Syria.

“As ancient sites along the Silk Road and other important trade routes, cities like Damascus and Bukhara were centers of education, as well as of cultural, religious and artistic exchange,” said Frances. “Through my photography, I hope to illustrate the diversity of the landscape, the colorful dress of local women, and the unique Islamic art and architecture that I encountered in Central Asia and also in Syria,” said Freyberg.

The Portola Art Gallery is located at the Allied Arts Guild on Arbor Road in Menlo Park.

Photos by Frances Freyberg, courtesy of the photographer