New Visions exhibit opens at Zoellner

Zoellner Arts Center hosted the opening of "New Visions: Black and White Photography in Contemporary Art" on Saturday.

Lehigh is hosting the "Identity" portion of the three-part series, which also includes "Memory," hosted at Lafayette College and "Imagination," hosted by the Allentown Art Museum. The photographs are hung throughout the gallery.

"Identity" will run through Nov. 1.

The three exhibits represent the common threads in contemporary photography.

The images featured in each series are from the Arthur and Anne Goldstein art collection.

The Zoellner Arts Center defines the "Identity" exhibit as, "an individual's comprehension of her or himself as a discrete entity and the manner in which that person exists in relationship to other people."

The "Identity" segment's photography focuses on individuality and expression.

Arthur and Anne Goldstein's black and white photography collection gives nod to past and present work. The photography spans the mid-twentieth century through the present. The art not only demonstrates a range of time periods but also a range of photography mediums, including gelatin silver print and digital.

Upon entering the gallery, which features an unobstructed line of sight to the back wall, your attention is immediately caught by Valérie Belin's striking portrait of a young black female, "Untitled #010806."

Belin's photograph captures the beauty of the woman's features, highlighting her full lips and femininity in the structure of her face on a classic gelatin silver print.

The seemingly expressionless face is all the more intriguing. The headshot portrait draws you in, making for an creative addition to the gallery.

Alexa Dryer and Daria Holm,'13, attended the opening.

Dryer and Holm called Belin's photograph "striking," adding that it was among one of their favorite pieces on display in the "Identity" exhibit. During the course of the opening, the photo continuously drew viewers.

The collection of photography was diverse, and the photos were vastly different in size and subject matter.

One particular seven-photo grouping from the Goldsteins' collection featured portraits of young and middle aged women by various artists.

The women, captured in various angles and positions, lure in viewers. The group includes headshots, a full-length image and two nude images that capture the subject's figures and emotions.

One of the nude images, Hannah Wilke's "So Help Me Hannah," features a woman sitting, hunched under an angled wall, holding a revolver in her left hand. She has a perplexed look on her face while posing for the photo.

Here the black and white images allow viewers to focus on the content of the photograph, rather than bright colors and patterns, which can easily draw attention away.

The "Identity" gallery mainly exhibits full body portraits, headshots and nude photography. The contemporary photography allows for both the photographer's and subject's personalities to thrive.

Richard Avedon photographed Andy Warhol's nude male and female torsos. In Avedon's photograph, a white female is juxtaposed against a black man, making a prominent contrast in size and figure.

Adding to the "Identity" collection, Avedon's photograph shows differences in male and female identity in an artistic way. Through Warhol's torsos, Avedon was able to capture the essence of human identity in his black and white photography.

Akilah Sauaders, '11, a self-proclaimed art lover and a volunteer at the Zoellner Arts Center, attended the opening to absorb the beauty of the photography. Sauaders said she found Alexander Apóstol's "Sopa de Letras" to be, "an interesting and perplexing photograph."

"Sopa de Letras" shows an elegantly dressed man wearing a surgical mask while attempting to eat soup. On top of the image there is an overlay of a crossword puzzle.

Apóstol took the liberty of circling a few words over his image. Some of the words include: hood, hulk, ultraman, rambo and james bond.

Clothing and overlay aside, perhaps the most intriguing part of the photograph is the man's eyes.

He gazes at the viewer with his head tilted downward, exposing the whites of his eyes. The viewer's eyes become affixed with the man, adding intensity to the image.

All of the photographs on display jive with the theme of identity, producing a cohesive collection of images for the exhibit.

If the "Identity" exhibit leaves viewers wanting more and piques their interest in black and white photography, their curiosity can be quelled upon visiting Lafayette College's "Memory," which is open until Oct. 18, and Allentown Art Museum's "Imagination," which is open until Jan. 10.