This photo from DragonCon is one of many in an exhibit by photographer Mark Alan Francis that opens Monday.

The Valdosta State University Fine Arts Gallery’s sixth public show of the 2013-2014 visual arts season features color photography by Mark Alan Francis. The exhibition, titled “Rituals,” opens Monday, Feb. 17, with a gallery lecture at 2:15 p.m. and reception from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

 Francis’s images were captured over a three-year period and depict scenes from an eclectic mix of community festivals around the United States, including favorites like the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show in Pensacola, Fla., Bring Your Own Big Wheel race in San Francisco, Calif., and 5,000 Egg Giant Omelette Celebration in Abbeville, La. He traveled on the weekends, attending some 40 events, collecting thousands of images.

An associate professor of photography at in the Visual Arts Department at Pensacola State College, Francis selected 51 color-saturated prints for the exhibit. He describes the selected images as being more photojournalistic in style, “usually focused on one individual in relationship to their environment and the people around them.”

“I targeted events with unique characters, colors, and performers at heart,” he said.

Francis completed the photographic project with a Switzer Endowed Teaching Chair grant from Florida’s Pensacola State College, where he serves as coordinator of the Photography Program. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Florida A&M University and a Master of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design. His work has been exhibited nationally, throughout the North and Southeast regions, in one-man shows and numerous juried exhibitions over the past 18 years.

“Rituals” will run through Saturday, March 8.