Nov 17, 2005
'MAKING ENDS MEET';
West Virginia University at Morgantown is only 75 miles south of Pittsburgh, and members of its art faculty regularly attend and exhibit in Pittsburgh venues. Several currently have work at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and at Artists Image Resource.
A solo exhibition of photographs by Neal Newfield at Filmmakers, "Making Ends Meet: West Virginia Community Voices," may sound like it has little relevance to local viewers, but it addresses poverty in the rural Appalachian Mountain region, which flows through Western Pennsylvania.
Newfield, an associate professor of social work and adjunct associate professor of behavioral medicine and psychiatry, comes to photography as a documentarian of the clients and concerns of his profession. But he's also cognizant of the contributions of light and shadow and the impact of composition when framing his shots, and he has shown in past Three Rivers Arts Festivals, among other art venues.
While looking at these contemporary subjects, one is reminded of the iconic imagery generated by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange as they photographed rural American poor nearly three-quarters of a century ago for the Farm Security Administration.
Handwritten mat comments call to mind the work of noted contemporary photographer Duane Michals, but the words here are those of the pictured subjects, jotted at Newfield's invitation.
At first glance, the exhibition appears somewhat formidable: 86 black-and-white images, some in stacked hang, most scrawled with commentary.
But the viewer becomes quickly engaged, pulled into the compelling stories of this large community, the experience of which is actually underscored by the shoulder-to-shoulder presentation.
A solo exhibition of photographs by Neal Newfield at Filmmakers, "Making Ends Meet: West Virginia Community Voices," may sound like it has little relevance to local viewers, but it addresses poverty in the rural Appalachian Mountain region, which flows through Western Pennsylvania.
Newfield, an associate professor of social work and adjunct associate professor of behavioral medicine and psychiatry, comes to photography as a documentarian of the clients and concerns of his profession. But he's also cognizant of the contributions of light and shadow and the impact of composition when framing his shots, and he has shown in past Three Rivers Arts Festivals, among other art venues.
While looking at these contemporary subjects, one is reminded of the iconic imagery generated by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange as they photographed rural American poor nearly three-quarters of a century ago for the Farm Security Administration.
Handwritten mat comments call to mind the work of noted contemporary photographer Duane Michals, but the words here are those of the pictured subjects, jotted at Newfield's invitation.
At first glance, the exhibition appears somewhat formidable: 86 black-and-white images, some in stacked hang, most scrawled with commentary.
But the viewer becomes quickly engaged, pulled into the compelling stories of this large community, the experience of which is actually underscored by the shoulder-to-shoulder presentation.