ERIKETA COST
Special to The Leader
Different media, celebrities and some themes of American culture are all represented in a collection of works that date back to 1930.
Sixty photographs were selected by the Louisiana State University Museum of Art from their permanent collection for this exhibition.
Both historic and contemporary works will be featured in the travelling collection.
Some of the works include the expansive black and white artichoke by Edward Weston, Victor Landweber’s series of photographs of famous people which all connect to each other and a print edition of the Winston Churchill portrait by Yousuf Karsh.
Marion Art Gallery director, Barbara Räcker, mentioned how she and the art faculty decide which exhibitions to feature on campus.
They prefer to showcase exhibits they think will benefit the students the most.
“We try to focus on featuring different mediums in each exhibition, like black and white, digital, gelatin silver print,” she said.
There are many different styles, too.
Some photographs focus on urban scenes, while others focus on people or celebrities.
Photographs are set up in a way that allow the viewer to compare and contrast the themes and approaches of each artist.
“It’s interesting to compare and contrast with the way I set it up. I put Diane Arbus, who photographs people in very strange ways, next to Bonnie Schiffman who photographs celebrities. So you see the baby who lost the diaper derby next to a portrait of Alice Walker and Quincy Jones,” Räcker said.
For this exhibition, the photography faculty was also heavily involved and interested in the decision-making process, as they believed the particular media featured would especially benefit their students.
A description posted within the gallery expressed the value of the exhibit and its potential impact on students.
“Images in exploring photography demonstrate the power of photography, not only to convey information, but also to express deep feelings through thoughtful image-making, unique points of view, and exploration of the varied photographic media now possible.”
Among active faculty members of the process were Stephen Komp, Robert Siedentop and Liz Lee.
However, the audience is never just Fredonia students.
The gallery strives to reach out to the community with the exhibition as well.
“Part of the gallery’s outreach mission is to invite surrounding middle schools and high schools in the area to come and tour the exhibition. There aren’t many opportunities to see art in the community,” said Räcker.
The new “Exploring Photography” exhibition at Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery will be presenting 60 photographs until Oct. 7.