KENNEBUNK — Under a strict time constraint of nearly seven minutes, presenters at the River Tree Arts’ inaugural “Pecha Kucha Night” had limited time to explain their creative processes.

This restriction, though, is what ultimately benefited those speaking on topics ranging from astrophysics to energy efficiency to photography and painting ”“ by allowing them to focus on what is most important.

“It’s a creative event for people with short attention spans,” joked the night’s host, Doug Green, before introducing the show’s guests Thursday night.

Pecha Kucha, meaning “chit chat” in Japanese, is a method of presenting multiple individuals’ thoughts and ideas on virtually any topic in a short time span. The six minutes and 40 seconds to view 20 slides ”“ 20 seconds each ”“ forces the audience to take in numerous ideas in rapid succession.

Green said the presentations are kept concise to keep the interest levels up, and viewers glimpse creativity within people that is often unseen.

Presenter Arthur Fink of Peaks Island, who’s given Pecha Kucha slideshows in the past, explained his process for capturing the perfect photograph of dancers and other subjects.

“I don’t manipulate the photos, I try to restore them to what I felt in person while taking them,” Fink said, about altering the colors and lightness of his pictures on his computer.

When Fink uses his camera, not every photo comes out perfect, he said, but some do, and it’s those that end up on display at shows.

“Trust your own vision,” Fink said, of determining how to take each photograph and figuring out which one is right to be presented.

Fink said he doesn’t think there’s any truth or message to be found in his presentations, but only his own experience that he can interpret to the listener.

Surrounded by like-minded individuals, photographer Joanne Arnold, who also presented that night, said Pecha Kucha is a wonderful way to develop contacts to land jobs.

“It gives you the possibility of building connections and it also gives you big exposure,” Arnold said.

Not all of the topics at a Pecha Kucha event are directly related to art. Astrophysicist Jon Chappel of Durham, N.H. told of how X-ray telescopes can be operated to view images of light in far-off galaxies.

Chappel said it takes billions of dollars to construct a telescope and lens that can see millions of miles away from Earth, and that the lens must be extremely precise, all the way down to its atoms. He added how it was a wonderful experience to obtain results from his work when he was able to capture images of the galaxy Centaurus A.

As more Pecha Kuchas are held, the number of people interested in presenting continues to grow.

Kennebunk resident Laura Savard said she hopes to participate as a presenter at the next “Pecha Kucha Night,” but she hasn’t made a decision on which subject she would like to discuss.

“There’s a lot of different things you could do a presentation on,” she said.

Savard also said she was turned on to the event by attending the last Pecha Kucha in Portland, and that although she hasn’t presented yet, just being there gave her the option of networking with others.

“I’d like to talk about being a mom, but book-making could also be something I could speak on,” Savard said.

Two Tokyo architects, Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, launched Pecha Kucha in 2003, which is now done in 452 cities and towns around the world. Many visitors at River Tree Arts discovered the event after attending it at Portland’s Space Gallery, motivating them to go to others, said Linda Ward, River Tree Arts’ Pecha Kucha board coordinator.

Ward said half the people attending the show were Kennebunk and Kennebunkport locals, and the other half were from neighboring towns and cities.

“It’s a great way to bring out people (in) to the community,” Ward said.

— Staff Writer Matt Kiernan can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 326, or at mkiernan@journaltribune.com.