A look at a family album Climb the stairs to their studio two floors above Monmouth Street in Red Bank and you'll be rewarded with a look at Bob and Liz McKay's travel photos. "The United Nations" by Robert McKay If the words "travel photos" make you want to beat a hasty retreat, be aware that these are no ordinary tourist snapshots because the McKays are photographers with a fine curatorial eye that has made their gallery space a showcase for fine art photography. "Home/Away From Home," which opened Dec. 7 at McKay Imaging Studio & Gallery, offers different perspectives of a far-away place that happens to be Liz McKay's hometown and, by extension, Bob's home away from home. The McKays of Eatontown met in photography classes at Brookdale Community College in 1992 and soon began collaborating. They were married in 1998 and, according to Bob McKay, his wife's heritage has had a profound influence on their work. "I had no way of knowing, at the time, how profoundly Liz's Austrian heritage would affect my life and eventually our work together," he explains in an artist's statement. "Riegersburg" by Elisabeth Koch-McKay "Now, 15 years, a million photographs and many journeys to Europe later, we are finally having a show together; in our own gallery; photographs from Liz's first home/my new home away from home. "We began traveling to Austria together in 1996. For Liz, it was simply a trip back home. For me, it was my first time off American soil, a very exciting time where almost everything was a new experience." Each trip, of course, is made with cameras in tow. "We work together but our perceptions differ. Liz is photographing her homeland, most often with a ... Holga camera, which she believes offers a special sensitivity toward capturing what she remembers of the look and feel of the place. "I ... began photographing a foreign land as any tourist might do but eventually as if it was all somewhat more familiar. It has always been her home. It has become my home, away from home." The demands of their photography studio leave little time to share their photos. "Showing the pictures is always such a big project ... but it looks like we're finally going to pull it off," writes Bob. "So, here it is, very simply a look into the family album at some of our very favorite shots." "Home/Away From Home," photographs by Robert McKay and Elisabeth Koch-McKay, will run through Jan. 17 at McKay Imaging Photography Studio and Gallery, which is located on the second floor of 12 Monmouth St. Gallery hours are Wednesday and Thursday, 1 p.m. - 7 p.m., or by appointment. For more information, call (732) 842-2272 or visit www.mckayimaging.com.