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Detroit Free Press Article
| 2003
A review which appeared in the Detroit
Free Press on
Sunday, July 13, 2003. Written by Keri Guten Cohen.
Experiments Match
Students' Passions
June 13, 2003
Fine-art photography has
taken over nearly all the wall space at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art
Center. Two shows, featuring more than 40 photographers, promise
something for everyone.
But don't go expecting straight photography - experimentation
is in high gear here, especially from the 33 students representing the
College for Creative Studies in Detroit and Henry Ford Community
College in Dearborn.
All are students of fine-art photographer and instructor
Linda Soberman of Huntington Woods. Known for her own
photographic experimentation, Soberman says she encourages her
students to push themselves creatively.
Many of the students are using their photographs to
explore themselves and their beliefs, or to look at the cultural world
around them. Others are testing techniques and searching for
methods of expression that match their energy, passion and interest.
What emerges is a whole lot of talent. Some of the students work
stands up well against the work of the professional fine-art
photographers in the gallery nearby.
In the student show, "Develop Stop Fix," you'll find
everything from silver gelatin prints to Polaroid transfers to
cyanotypes to the use of canvas, watercolor paper, oil paint and
metal. There are richly colored Cibachrome, black-and-white and
digital prints as well. All the experimentation brings a
vibrancy and freshness to the show.
The students, most showing publicly for the first time,
had a hand in designing the installation and the exhibitions postcards
and in hanging the show. Each student offers several works.
Highlights among the CCS works include vibrant
abstractions and cyanotype mug shots by Steve Kurmas of Shelby,
intriguing portraits collaged on Japanese paper by Elaine Lok of
Detroit, desolate black-and-white landscapes by Christine Owen of
Detroit, photojournalistic shots of the River Rouge Fire Department in
action by Brian Lynch (Rusinek) of Allen Park and close-up portraits of bikini
underwear with text by Nicole R. Johnson of Detroit.
Other noteworthy CCS efforts include 10 wonderful color
abstractions of movement by Diana Teeter of West Bloomfield and
montages of sandwiches that disappear bite by bite from Arjun Patil of
Bloomfield Hills. Jessica Imbronone of Detroit offers a
stapled-together portrait of a woman bound with tape and Christmas
lights, in a bathroom with a naked man at her feet.
Standouts among the Henry Ford students include a moody
mixed-media photo transfer image of a woman with a cigarette by
Bridgette Short of Dearborn, photo transfers with watercolor on paper
by Ami Attee of Detroit, whimsical and mysterious portraits magnified
to distort facial features by Jen Cline of Dearborn and Detroiter Mary
Cuevas' three-dimensional black-and-white photo of a neighborhood
populated by toy figurines.
The show by professional photographers in the De Salle
Gallery, "Eight Photographers," lacks the excitement of the student
effort. Soberman says the exhibition was a last-minute effort;
when another show was canceled, she called on her fellow instructors
in the CCS photography department to lend some work.
Some highlights include Soberman's newest pieces,
handsomely framed in gold. They feature tightly cropped images
of women from early Italian paintings that have been transferred onto
torn canvas squares, giving the appearance that they've been ripped
from the original paintings.
S. Kay Young of Detroit offers gorgeous abstractions of
American Indian dancers in motion, with swirls of pure color.
John Miatovich of St. Clair Shores first paints
rock-like striation patterns in black copper, then shoots a digital
image of the painting and transfers it to a steel surface. The
digital image on steel is mounted with the original painting as an
echo.
Carlos Diaz of Brighton offers several series of rich
and well-composed black-and-white photos. In one series, he
cleverly collages vintage steel-plate engravings of obelisks,
umbrellas, ductwork and more into scenes of a closed carnival midway.
The winner here is the student show, overflowing with
bravado and creativity. It's in its second year at the BBAC;
let's hope it becomes an annual event.
'Develop Stop Fix'
'Eight Photographers'
Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center
1516 S. Cranbrook, Birmingham
Through August 1
9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Mon. Sat.
248-664-0866
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