Some of the most interesting artwork is created when artists are allowed to work with no boundaries. In the newest photography exhibit on campus, the student work on display represents the “point of view” of a variety of students. The Point of View photography exhibition opened on Oct. 15 and will be on display in the Lewandowski Student Gallery in McLaurin through Nov. 4.
According to senior photography major Annah Whitehead, the exhibit was intended partly as a showcase for seniors graduating in December. “It started with there being a few seniors that were going to be graduating in December within the photo department, so we didn’t have the opportunity to have a senior exhibition in the spring like most seniors do.” Whitehead said. “We discussed it last spring with Professor Hamilton. He decided we could do this and we would open it up to other students in other levels, and he would jury it himself and select what would be in the show.”
The exhibit features work from students throughout the visual arts department, focusing on subjects such as plants, insects, architecture and several pieces showcasing the human body. The majority of the pieces are parts of photo series. According to professor and juror Mark Hamilton, photo series are important for highlighting the artists’ abilities and interests.
“Lots of times with photo exhibitions, people will take just one good photograph. And I’m always telling my students that it’s not about taking one photograph, it’s having a point of view, having a series of images. So that’s what this exhibit’s about, it’s not just doing one image, but having consistency of vision.” Hamilton says. “I think lots of times when there are themes in shows, especially in college, the students are making work because of what they think the faculty member wants. I came up with this title because it would give them the ability to do whatever they want and have the greatest amount of freedom. And that’s really important as an artist.”
Whitehead’s photo series on display, titled “Sheer” and “Painted” focus on showing beauty through art. “I wanted to do something that really depicted serenity and something very natural, but I wanted to add the fashion element to it.” Whitehead says in regard to her “Sheer” series. “I like to take portraits of women mostly, and it was just very therapeutic for me to do something that’s just beautiful. I think a lot of times as artists we fail to appreciate that sometimes things can just be beautiful. They don’t have to be crazy or outlandish, they can just be pretty. And that’s satisfying in its own right.”
“Painted” uses paint, blue tones and a pane of glass to show different views of the human body. “It ended up being a huge series that I did – lips and faces against the glass with all different colors of paint but these kind of went together. It’s kind of chaotic, I like the depth that there is in it because you can’t really see the glass. You don’t know there’s glass there, so it just adds texture to it.”
Senior photography major Sam Ross is displaying a series titled “From the space in which we exist,” which uses jars full of objects to describe individuals. “I got some friends and also some people I didn’t really know and I gave them a piece of paper. It said ‘put objects in a jar that represent who you are and then tell me something about yourself’. It could be a joke, you tell me something really personal, I don’t care, just tell me something. Then I took a photo of the jar and scanned in their handwriting and put it in there.”
The exhibit was celebrated with an opening reception on Oct. 17, which brought student photographers, their families, friends, professors and some of the models from their photo shoots together. “There were a lot of people that showed up and I’m happy with how it turned out,” Ross says. “It’ll be up two more weeks, so people should go look at it!”
“I think one of the great things that they have with this opportunity is to throw a show on their own, and kind of take charge of it.” Hamilton adds. “I’m very proud of the students and I’m proud of their individual points of view. I think that’s reflected in this show.”
Photo: Sam Ross/ The Johnsonian
