Gallery Sponsor:

Members’ Preview | Saturday, February 17 | 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Preview Admission for Members is Free | Guests – $5 Admission

Gallery Admission: $5 per person | Cedarhurst Members Free (children 10 and under free) | All admission is Free each Thursday

The Influence of Tradition in Contemporary Photography
by Antonio Martinez, Daniel Overturf, and Alison Smith | Photography Faculty, Department of Cinema and Photography
Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

The annual exhibition by the Department of Cinema and Photography at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts represents a continuing relationship between the two institutions that began in 1993. We have altered the format for the show over the 26 years for many reasons, but the foundational elements of the collaboration still exist. Each year we are honored and welcome the opportunity to share our work in the beautiful exhibition spaces at Cedarhurst.

This year’s exhibition continues to reveal the diverse photographic ambitions of the artists in the department, at the undergraduate (Bachelor of Arts program), graduate (Master of Fine Arts) and faculty level. The Department of Cinema and Photography, located in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts at SIU, has long been known for encouraging original thought and concept while maintaining high standards for craft and technique.

The “The Influence of Tradition in Contemporary Photography” themed exhibition was initiated by a challenge put forth by Cedarhurst Visual Arts Director Rusty Freeman, the topic has evoked a wide range of interpretation. Rusty issued the following ideas and posed the following questions:

Find a past photographer whose work you like and bend, adapt, reinvent that photographer’s style and content to your will; in order to express your world today. Your job is like a new music band that is doing a cover of a famous song, take the old song and make it your own.
Consider how the photographer used form to express the content. Was it literal or was the meaning more hidden, more like a puzzle to be worked out, uncovered? How did the image’s literal meaning imply hidden connotations? How much information has to be given before the photograph “works” as both social commentary and art? How does one present (photograph) images with attached feelings or emotions, so that your message comes through? How do images convey mood or tone? What images work best for you in order to convey your values, moods, and tone? How does the camera capture and present those values? What can the camera express that no other medium can do? What is unique about the camera’s expression?
Think of your photograph not as a “still photograph,” but as an “event” with multi-layered connotations emanating from key images or representations. The ultimate goal is to photograph Today’s World through the Eyes of the Past.

Thanks to the good people at Cedarhurst and the support of the patrons, we continue to share our discoveries each spring. We are delighted to show the work done by our department with the Cedarhurst artistic community and look forward to fostering our connections further in the future.