Photos in Eye of the Beholder

May 22, 2007 | Filed Under News, Photography 

I was invited to participate in a photography exhibition called “Eye of the Beholder” where two of my landscape photographs will appear.

June 1 – June 30
Krause Center for Innovation Gallery
Foothill College
12345 El Monte Road
Los Altos Hills, CA

Hours:
Monday through Friday 6:30am to 9:00pm
Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm

Directions to the gallery (on the lower level).

Eye of the Beholder

As photographers and artists, we put ourselves behind the viewfinder, through the lens, and see the world through our own eyes. We try to capture the spirit, art, or meaning of the subject with just a click of the shutter. Sometimes, we are there for hours, waiting for the perfect light. Other photographs are serendipitous and perhaps even the result of simple, wonderful luck. In the end, we have a body of work that has meaning to ourselves and, hopefully, meaning to others.

One aspect of most exhibitions is that each photographer chooses to submit a certain number of images from his or her portfolio. In all situations, these are strong images. But the selections are still colored by our own personal and sometimes emotional attachment to particular images. Perhaps we include a specific image because it is not only strong but because of some personal meaning, such as the effort involved or the people encapsulated by the frame. There is nothing wrong with this, but this show, in which we look at work through the Eye of the Beholder rather than through that of the artist, presents something different.

For this show, artists were paired up and presented with each other’s comprehensive portfolio of gallery-quality work. We were explicitly encouraged to not pre-select from this collection, or to make comments about particular images. Our partner then selected the images that eventually ended up on the walls. Each of us have put our exhibited images, the prints that represent our skills, vision, and art, in the hands of another.

The result is an exhibition that truly is about how others see our work. It is about the perspectives, experiences, and sometimes simple preferences of someone else, which may be entirely and radically different than our own. If beauty truly is in the Eye of the Beholder, then let us see what beauty each of us has found in another’s work, and think about the meaning of those choices, those perceptions, and perspectives.

Comments