When Colleen Maniere was 10 years old, she and her family moved from Connecticut to a house in West Windsor with a huge bay window that looked out onto her backyard and a greenbelt with bunnies, groundhogs, and all sorts of living creatures. Sensing her burgeoning interest in nature, her mother gave her a pair of binoculars.
“I would sit at that window for hours looking at everything out there, just absorbing the world and noticing the colors and the movement,” says Maniere, who pinpoints that childhood experience as the time when her vision as a photographer was born.
At West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, she put down her binoculars and picked up a camera as a student in Mr. Leventhal’s photography class, opening up a whole new chapter in her love affair with the lens and a different way of viewing the world.
On Tuesday, April 3, Maniere shares that vision with a photographic exhibition “Deep Within the Soul,” opening at Triumph, 138 Nassau Street in Princeton, and running through June 10. The opening night reception runs from 7 to 9 p.m. The exhibition features more than 60 pieces available for sale, culled from 10,000 or so pictures she has taken ever since she picked up a camera. A portion of the proceeds from her show will go toward research and support for pancreatic cancer, to which Maniere lost her father three years ago.
“I want people looking at my photographs to feel an emotion or find a lost memory, or feel inspired to visit the place I have captured,” says Maniere. “I am excited to evoke thoughts in people because that’s what happens to me when I take a picture, and I want to share that.”
Maniere’s photographs are taken in 40 cities in 13 countries all over the world, but her roots were planted firmly in West Windsor, where she currently lives with her mother in her childhood home in what she considers a transitional phase in her life.
She and her three siblings came up through the local schools — Millstone River, then known as the Upper Elementary School, Community Middle School, and then WW-P High School, where she enjoyed a brilliant career as a field hockey player. She served as team captain, and when she graduated in 2000 she was recruited by Rutgers University. She was team captain there as well and majored in sociology and psychology, graduating in 2004. From there she went to Rider University to earn her teaching certification, completing that in December, 2005.
One month later, she moved to San Francisco, living in the colorful Mission District and teaching sixth grade in a private school in the Sunset neighborhood looking out to the Pacific Ocean and Ocean Beach.
“I started that year with a new year’s resolution to take at least one picture a day,” says Maniere. “I loved the beauty I was surrounded by and wanted to appreciate it and record it to document my life and show my family. My classroom had a beautiful view of the ocean and one entire wall was a window. From there I had a full view of the ocean, with rainbows and fog and clear, sparkling water.”
Her idyllic life of teaching and taking pictures was interrupted by family tragedy. Her father had fallen ill with pancreatic cancer and was given one year to live. Maniere took a break from her San Francisco life to move home to be with him and her family, and she was home when he succumbed to the disease 14 months later. During his illness, his family in France had come to West Windsor to visit and it gave Maniere the perfect opportunity to connect with her family.
And so after her father’s death, she was inspired to move to Paris. She ended up living in Paris for the entire next year, teaching, traveling, and taking pictures along the way.
“Spending time with my godfather, my cousins, uncles and aunts, and learning the language gave me a way to extend my time with my father,” explains Maniere. “There were little things that my uncles would do that would remind me so much of him. I felt like I was given the opportunity to know him better even though he was gone.”
Maniere’s dad had come to the United States in the 1970s to earn his doctorate in food science at Penn State University, where he met her mother, who was from Boston and was an undergraduate studying education. The rest is family history: they married and chose to stay in the United States to raise their family, which includes Maniere, an older brother, and a younger brother and sister.
His food science degree served him well in his career at Nestle, Pepsi, and then Johnson and Johnson, which is what brought the family to New Jersey. He then worked for L’Oreal, a French company, which allowed him to travel to Paris and be connected to his family. Maniere’s mom was an elementary and middle school teacher.
Maniere returned to the United States last August, but not before traveling as much as she could, exploring her mother’s extended family in Ireland, a cousin in Spain, and an uncle in Germany.
“I was taking pictures every second and getting lost in every city I went to, purposefully walking and getting lost,” says Maniere. “I captured everything from an interesting crack in the sidewalk to famous landmarks to reflections in a body of water to landscape and natural beauty. I wanted to record every detail of my journey.”
Maniere explains that when she chooses a subject to photograph, she is not looking for anything in particular, but needs to feel something before she snaps the shutter.
“There is something that draws me to that picture and makes me want to photograph it,” she says.
Her experience in Europe helped her heal from her father’s death and also opened up her eyes to the possibilities of working with her camera. “It was an experience to keep close to my heart but the timing was right for me to come back.”
While she prepares for her show and continues to take pictures, she also plans to start graduate school in the fall and is waiting to hear back from schools. She wants to earn a master’s in educational leadership and administration, with the eventual goal of becoming a superintendent of public schools.
“It’s refreshing to be home in West Windsor and nice to reconnect with old friends who live in New York and the surrounding areas,” says Maniere. “It’s a temporary situation and nice having this transition year, which has enabled me to spend time and put energy into my photography. The time at home has given me the chance to pursue this and see what happens.”
Maniere is thrilled to have her own exhibition. “It’s opening a new door for me,” she says, “taking a hobby and going further with it to explore, to share the inspiration and adventure of travel. It also feels wonderful to capture all sides of who I am, to be able to continue my life in education and then be paid to be in art.”
Having her own show, she says, proves you can get what you want if you work hard and dream big enough. “Even if it’s just a fleeting thought, you should explore whether it’s possible. I am an advocate for pursuing your dreams and doing what makes you happy, and my father is a perfect example. He had the dream to come to America to finish his school, and he did and he found something here and stayed. He literally came here with a suitcase and created the American dream for himself. We still have that suitcase in our house. It’s a reminder that you can come with one suitcase and do anything.”
“Deep Within the Soul” photography by Colleen Maniere, Triumph Brewing Company, 138 Nassau Street, Princeton. On view through June 10. Opening reception Tuesday, April 3, 7 to 9 p.m. 609-924-7855 or www.triumphbrew.com
