Westborough resident Ian Tink discovered photography as a boy, after he won a Kodak camera for memorizing a psalm. In the five decades since, he has found plenty of scenes and objects to photograph, but one of his favorite subjects didn’t land in his lap until he met his wife in late 2001. A few months after, the two traveled to her homeland, the Dominican Republic, and Tink saw a whole new realm of photography unfold before his eyes.
“The landscapes there are beautiful,” he said, “but so are the people. They are very natural photography subjects. Everyone I met was very comfortable with having their picture taken.”
Tink and his wife have returned to the Dominican Republic numerous times, and now the artist is exhibiting many of the photos he has shot there at the Westboro Gallery. After it closes on Oct. 21, the exhibition, titled “¡Dominicanos!,’’ will head to the Caribbean country’s capital, Santo Domingo.
The show includes hundreds of images of Dominicans. Some photos portray everyday life, as people tend to their homes, relax with their families or engage in their jobs; others were shot at carnivals in Santiago and La Vega.
“I’ve gone from Santo Domingo to Samana to Perdinales to Monte Cristi to Punta Cana and Isle Saone, and to all four corners of the Dominican Republic,” said Tink, who so impressed Office of Tourism officials that they hired him to take marketing photos of the nation’s varied landscapes. “According to my wife, I’ve seen more of the country than most natives have.”
Tink’s Westborough exhibition also includes three photo essays: one, titled “The Shoe-Shine Boys,” serves as a fund-raiser to support initiatives to get young people off the streets of Santo Domingo and into education and training programs.
Also, a shoe-shine box painted by Pedro Veras will be available for purchase for a contribution of $500.
The other photo essays are “Filling in the Faces,” based on the blank-faced dolls that originated in Moca; and “Life & Limb,” exploring the issue of work and transportation safety, for which Tink found the standards to be remarkably different in the Dominican Republic than in the United States.
Concurrent with the last month of Tink’s show will be another Dominican exhibition, “Art Without Rules,” a program for which Tink recently served as guest artist, and sponsored by the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo.
Featuring paintings by more than 20 Dominican artists, “Art Without Rules,” will be on display at the Tatnuck Bookseller shop, in the Westborough Shopping Center at Route 9 and Lyman Street, through Oct. 22, with an opening reception Sunday in the store’s gallery from 2 to 5 p.m.
The Westboro Gallery is at 8 West Main St. For hours and more information, call 508-870-0110 or go to www.westborogallery.com.
For hours and more information about Tatnuck Bookseller, call 508-366-4959 or go to www.tatnuck.com.
POLITICAL COMEDY: The Circle of Friends Coffeehouse, a nonprofit affiliated with the First Universalist Society in Franklin, presents comedian Jimmy Tingle performing his one-man show at 8 p.m. Friday.
“Jimmy Tingle for President,” which is appropriate for ages 14 and above, will be presented in the First Universalist Society’s meetinghouse at 262 Chestnut St. in Franklin. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; desserts and nonalcoholic beverages will be available. Admission is $25. For tickets or more information, call 508-528-2541 or go to www.circlefolk.org.
FAMILY FESTIVAL: Grotonfest 2012, a full-day family festival featuring continuous entertainment, 165 booths set up by area artists, artisans, businesses, and nonprofits, crafts demonstrations, Tarot card readings, animals, firetrucks, kids’ activities, and lots of food, returns Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is free to the gathering, an annual tradition held on the Legion Common, at School and Hollis streets in the center of Groton. The rain date is Sunday. For more information, go to www.grotonfest.com.
ROCK ’N’ ROLL: The musical group Sha Na Na kicks off Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston’s fall concert season with an afternoon of classic Doo Wop and 1950s rock ’n’ roll Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Robinson Theatre, 617 Lexington St., Waltham.
Tickets are $35 to $50, with discounts for seniors and youths. To buy tickets or find out more, call 781-894-2330 or go to www.reaglemusictheatre.org.
IRISH CULTURE: The Arsenal Center for the Arts presents “A Broth of a Boy,” a one-man show chronicling the life of IRA renegade Brendan Behan, opening Sept. 25 and continuing through Oct. 7 in its Black Box Theater, 321 Arsenal St. in Watertown.
Based on Behan’s own words, this Irish cultural experience is adapted for the stage and directed by Richard Smithies, and produced by Céad Míle Fáilte. Tickets are $25. For a complete performance schedule or to order tickets, go to www.arsenalarts.org, or call 617-923-8487.
FOCUS ON ARCHITECT: Twenty-five years of architectural drawings and photos highlighting the career of Weston resident Gary Wolf are the subject of an exhibition running through Sept. 30 at the Weston Public Library, 87 School St.
Wolf has completed award-winning buildings in area communities as well as throughout Massachusetts and beyond. For hours and more information about the show, call 781-786-6150 or go to www.westonlibrary.org.