Photographs of Imagined Beauty

Several years ago Steven Richman of Plainsboro was intrigued — possibly even smitten — by a woman who was not his wife. No, Richman’s marriage wasn’t in trouble: the woman was a mannequin and Richman, the father of four and a lawyer whose hobby is photography, found “her” to be a fascinating subject.##M:[more]##That encounter led to portraits of mannequins in store windows from around the world. Richman had an exhibit of mannequin photographs at the Plainsboro Library Gallery. That exhibit led to his new book, “Mannequins,” featuring nearly 400 photographs.On Sunday, March 5, from 3 to 5 p.m., the Gallery will welcome its former board president home for a booksigning of the lavish art publication, which was released on February 28 by Schiffer Publishing.On his webpage (www.richmangalleries.com) he talks about how mannequins may be traced to as early as 1350 BC. During the latter half of the 19th century, plate glass windows and artificial lighting led to the rise of the modern department store and mannequins. Richman, who attended Hightstown High School, has lived in the area since 1981. A graduate of New York University Law School, he practices international and commercial law with Duane Morris in Hamilton Township. He is a member of the board of State Bar Association and former chair of the editorial board of New Jersey Lawyer Magazine.Richman is an adjunct professor of international business law at the College of New Jersey and was a candidate for the General Assembly in 1999.“I became interested in photography in a serious way around 1997, when the Hale-Bopp Comet was in the sky, and I used an old Olympus OM-1 camera to photograph it,” he says. “Although I’d always been interested in photography, it became a passion at that time and I quickly moved from night sky photography to other areas, reading extensively, taking adult ed courses, and joining Princeton Photography Club.”Richman has been involved in juried shows, Lawyers and the Arts, several Artsbridge National Shows, New Jersey American Society of Media Photographers Show, Ellarslie Open Exhibition, and shows at Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association, College of New Jersey, Nassau Club, Grounds for Sculpture, Phillips Mill, and Plainsboro Library.He has had individual shows at Plainsboro Public Library, American Cyanamid, and Borders Books and Music. Group shows he has participated in include Princeton Alliance Church, Princeton Photography Club, Capital Health, Artsbridge, and Princeton Chamber of Commerce Business Trade Fair.Richman’s previous book, “The Bridges of New Jersey,” published by Rutgers University Press, debuted in 2005. He was a contributing photographer for “Princeton: Still Making History,” by Indigo Custom Publishing.So why mannequins? “I find them to have an imagined, intangible beauty, not just as objects but also for what they represent,” Richman writes in the new book. “Perhaps we see images of ourselves, reflected mirrors, even if those mirrors are curved and distorted. Regardless of the arguments, the political, social, and artistic context, I have found mannequins to be intriguing, haunting, even if, at the end of the day, I cannot fully articulate why.”Booksigning, Plainsboro Public Library, 641 Plainsboro Road, 609-275-2897. Sunday, March 5, 3 to 5 p.m.