As part of their final project of the semester, Advanced photography students are being challenged to \u201cElevate\u201d the community through a photo gallery exhibition that opens today at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
Adjunct professor of communication Noah Darnell has led the students through the semester-long course and said the gallery is an effort to refocus on the power of a photograph to be permanent.<\/p>\n
\u201cInspiration for this gallery came from a desire to exercise the photograph\u2019s ability to be something important again: not just an impermanent thing to scroll by on a phone,\u201d Darnell said.<\/p>\n
As brainstorming for the gallery began, Darnell, working with junior Macy Pate who was leading the student effort as part of her honors college project, decided on the theme \u201cElevate,\u201d which they felt would allow students creative freedom for the gallery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI presented three options to the class, and after some dialogue we came to the conclusion that \u2018Elevate\u2019 was the most positive way to approach the project,\u201d Pate said. \u201cIt was helpful to hear everyone\u2019s input, and together I think we came to a really good agreement \u2014 that \u2018Elevate\u2019 would be the way to draw in and connect with different parts of White County.\u201d<\/p>\n
In their gallery exhibitions, students use photography to elevate topics like rural public school systems, generational farming and leadership roles \u2014 all in White County. Darnell said the project has forced students into circumstances outside of their comfort zones and into real-world photographic scenarios.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safe projects often made within the Harding bubble are easy to find, repetitive and not outward-looking,\u201d Darnell said. \u201cTo \u2018go into all the world,\u2019 we must actually go out the door, go off campus and go into the world in all that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pate echoed Darnell\u2019s expectations for students\u2019 work and said the project presents a unique way for students to make connections in the community and learn to document stories that go beyond Harding\u2019s acres.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost like we have this ethnocentric way of looking at White County because we are told so often how great Harding is,\u201d Pate said. \u201cI think as part of our \u2018community of mission,\u2019 we need to involve ourselves in the outside community, even if we are only here for a short time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darnell said the gallery will push students to think about the power of their work beyond a simple click of the shutter.<\/p>\n
\u201cDocumentary work, art, photojournalism: there\u2019s an assumption that they are done for a purpose,\u201d Darnell said. \u201cIn that case, should we be expecting great change and earth-shaking returns? Or should we be hoping that one photo reaches one person and they are uplifted? Or some other small truth quietly conveyed? I think it is this moment \u2014 the quiet moments we will never realize \u2014 that make work like this important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gallery opening will be held in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Music and Communication in room 124. The opening event will run from 5\u20137 p.m. today, and students will be on hand to speak about their respective topics. The gallery will run through Saturday, May 6.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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