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Student Photographers Offer Unique Visions of Faces and Spaces

Story posted October 01, 2008

Bob_Morrell.jpg
Bob Morrell '47 was Tommy Wilcox's first subject.

As the recipients of 2008 McKee Photography Grants, Tommy Wilcox '09 and Eleanor West '10 spent their summers focusing their attention and their cameras at vastly different subjects. For Wilcox, it was a group of well-known members of the Brunswick community whom he'd never before had an opportunity to meet face to face. For West, it was the interior spaces of each place she visited during her summer travels.

Wilcox and West will discuss their unique visions and the results of their projects in a joint illustrated lecture/presentation at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 1, 2008, in Beam Classroom, Visual Arts Center.

The presentation is open to the public and admission is free.

"I set out to photograph the most famous (meaning recognizable) people in Brunswick," Wilcox explains of his portraiture project. "I chose to photograph in traditional silver photo process — not digital — and used a very traditional 4x5 camera. Both decisions were made in the hopes of rediscovering the idea of it being as big an honor or a privilege to sit for a portrait as it used to be at the beginning of photography's history."

Wilcox chose the first subject, but it was then left to each subject to choose Wilcox's next subject, and so on. "So to some extent, the project was largely out of my hands after the first shoot — this was a new experience for me and something I would like to explore further," he says.

Another crucial element of Wilcox's project was size: "I wanted the final images to be enormous — each negative is 4x5 inches and each print is nearly 4x5 feet. I chose to make the subjects 'larger-than-life' (literally and figuratively) to reinforce the idea of their being famous — that people whom they don't know recognize them."

Eleanor_Triptych.jpg
Eleanor West's "Triptych" project evolved into a study of interior spaces.

West's project also involved an element that might be considered a part of photography's past: Polaroid prints. The day may fast be approaching when no one remembers what it was ever like to pick up a camera, snap a shot, and have a stiff photograph pop out of the bottom of the camera with a whir. (Fanning the photo back and forth optional.)

"My project was originally intended to be Polaroid triptychs featuring landscapes and cityscapes," West explains. "However, I ultimately found that triptychs featuring interiors were much more intriguing. I took photographs in every place that I stayed this summer, so I have a personal connection with all of the rooms depicted."

The McKee Photography Grants are supported by the McKee Fund for Photography, a fund established in 2003 to augment the photography offerings within the visual arts division of the Department of Art at Bowdoin. The grant supports student photography projects during the summer months, and is intended to encourage students to work independently with advice, even if from afar, from a faculty member to execute a long-term photographic project outside of the context of the classroom.

Both Wilcox and West were advised by Meggan Gould, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Art.

For more information about Wilcox's and West's photography projects, read the September 26, 2008, Bowdoin Orient story.

Tommy Wilcox's "Famous" exhibition will be on view in Lamarche Gallery, David Saul Smith Union, during the month of October. It can also be viewed online here.

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