Vibrant still lifes and sepia-toned portraits lined the pristine white walls of Evanston’s newest art gallery Saturday, drawing a large crowd for its opening reception.

More than 300 people attended the opening at the Perspective Group and Photography Gallery, 1310-1/2 Chicago Ave., gallery board member Chris Schneberger said.

“It was about jam-packed from start to finish,” Schneberger said. “Definitely a lot more than expected.”

The gallery is an artists’ collective that showcases the photography of its 17 members, board member Bill Bridges said. Bridges and three other board members had been discussing the gallery since last October and planning the opening since early April, Bridges said.

“There wasn’t a gallery like this around,” said David Schachman, one of the photographers. “A lot of people have been thinking about doing this for a long time, then finally the directors got things together, and everybody jumped on the bandwagon pretty quickly.”

The current exhibition features two works from each member. Starting June 5, the gallery will run monthly exhibits, board member Suzanne Metzel said.

“We wanted to give the public an idea of what everybody’s work was like for the opening reception,” Metzel said. “After that, we will feature the work of two members, and we’ll rotate every month.”

The exhibition that opened Saturday showcases a wide variety of photography, from black-and-white to color and from digital to “alternative processes” such as platinum and palladium painting, Bridges said.

Evanston resident Laetitia Carquet said she was amazed by the variety of photography styles featured at the gallery. She said she came to the opening to support a friend, one of the featured photographers, but her love of photography also drew her in.

“I have a few favorites, I must admit,” she said. “Especially this one photo of the trees reflected in a pool. I just spent a few minutes staring at it because I was so fascinated.”

Friends and family of the photographers, as well as other Evanston residents, came to the gallery to see the artwork and to socialize.

“Each member (of the gallery) invited everybody they could think of, and we hoped for a huge turnout of people, which it seems like we’ve achieved,” Bridges said.

Evanston resident Anne Heider said she appreciated the artwork, but the huge crowd made it difficult to see all of the works.

“I made my way around once. … I would happily go back in and try to see more, but the people who are in there don’t seem to be actually looking at the photos,” Heider said. “They just seem to be mostly schmoozing.”

Aside from featuring the collective’s artwork, Bridges and Metzel both said they hope to host events for the community such as photography classes for Evanston residents. They said they also hope to feature other photographers’ work, especially that of students both from Evanston Township High School and Northwestern.

“We love photography, and we just want to promote it as an art form in the community, aside from exhibiting our works,” Metzel said.

– Kris Anne Bonifacio