Peering into the windows of someone’s home is the main focus of the new exhibit sponsored by the Introduction to Digital Photography class taught by Steve Rezac.
The new photo exhibit, which will be pitch-black, is currently untitled. It will only be on display to the public during the night to enhance the darkness effect, and volunteers will stand by the entrance with a bucket of flashlights for each person.
Flashlights are provided so people can wander around the gallery in the dark and focus on each house carefully. Nov. 15 through Nov. 22, but students are welcome to view it with their own flashflights Nov. 23 through the end of the semester.
It involves about 20 11-by-17 inch boards, each having nine two-inch tall windows which will allow passersby to look closely at the different windows and houses to see how each student in the Introduction to Digital Photography class envisioned the residences. The students will be featured in one of the nine photos of the house they each designed.
Rezac, instructor in the art department, came up with the idea for this exhibit.
“I wanted to do something conceptual for students,” he said. “I wanted something for the students in the Intro to Digital Photography class to feel proud of.”
The voyeuristic exhibit took about three weeks to set up, and is scheduled to be open to the public on or after Nov. 15 in the Cyrus M. Running Gallery. According to Rezac, the students have developed a lot during the process, especially with how their shots have progressed.
“Every week they’ve refined their specific shooting angles and subject matter for the effect of looking through a window,” Rezac said.
Senior Paul Lillehaugen, a student in the Intro to Digital Photography class, said he thinks the exhibit is a really neat idea.
“Having the whole class involved is exciting,” he said. “We make each [board] a little different, with our own signature and take on it, so people can explore what they’re trying to say.”
Lillehaugen said he has learned a lot over this past semester.
“I wasn’t that much of a photographer,” he said. “We had to kind of feel our way through the experiment, and we can all learn from it together.”
Senior Sudhir Selvaraj, another student in the class, said this has been a great collaborative effort.
“Everything from designing the poster to selecting a name for the exhibit has been done collaboratively by our class and instructor,” he said. “It is new and exciting for most of us.”
Selvaraj said the class has challenged them to look at things in a new way, and this exhibit is an example of that. He hopes the reaction to the exhibit is enthusiastic.
“It is a really cool concept and we hope that we get a fair number of faculty, staff and students to come see out work,” he said.
Rezac said he hopes the exhibit is something for the students in his class to enjoy by showing their work. He also hopes it generates some talk about the Intro to Digital Photography class.
“I hope it creates a buzz that digital photography class can be fun, funky and conceptual,” he said. “Besides, who’s ever walked through a dark gallery with flashlights?”
