The article below originally appeared on MercuryNews.com and is being reprinted with permission.

An artist’s reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday celebrates the group photography exhibit “from Mind to Lens” at Avenue 25 Gallery in San Mateo. The show is on view through
March 2.

Masks are a concept that intrigues Mary Scarpetti. As she deepens her exploration of the concept, she finds “the mask reveals as much as it conceals.” Scarpetti, who has a juris doctorate from the University of San Francisco School of Law, has studied photography at the College of San Mateo and The Art Institute of Boston.

Becky Ruppel is drawn to sports as a subject for her art, especially high school
team sports.

For Gino De Grandis, who grew up in Italy, tornadoes are a current focus. Five years ago he joined a team of tornado chasers from Europe that photographically documented its journey across the American Plains. Later he was hired as official photographer by the U.S. storm chasing team Vortex 2. His photos are used by the Discovery Channel and the
Weather Channel.

David Massolo has studied photography at CSM and has been active in a number of groups, including The Royal Photographic Society, Millbrae Camera Club and Zone 3 and has won several awards of merit from the Northern California Camera Clubs Association.

Bijan Mottahedeh is as interested in imagery in poetry as in photography. After earning a diploma at the Institute de Langue et de Culture Francaise in Paris and a master’s degree at Purdue University, Mottahedeh studied photography at CSM and Skyline College. In 2011, Mottahedeh won the Calypso Award at the Moondance International Film Festival.

Linda Barsotti is pursuing photographic studies at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco as well as at CSM. For the current show she presents “Listening to the Walls,” which distills layers of time and discourse.

Work by Jeff Powers also is on view in the show. He currently is studying at CSM. Encouraged by instructor Richard Lohmann to try to capture images of things he loves, he has discovered a deep interest in portraiture. Avenue 25 Gallery is on the second floor at 32 W. 25th Ave. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The gallery is coordinated by Kim McCool Nelson. Email her at kimikazi@sbcglobal.net.