February 8, 2010–Walk the halls of LaGuardia Community College and one immediately sees the rich ethnic diversity of its student population. Beginning March 10, that multicultural mosaic will also grace its walls when the College opens a photography exhibition of portraits of LaGuardia students taken by its commercial photography students.
The Faces of LaGuardia photography exhibition comprises 60 striking black and white and color images that showcase the creative talents of LaGuardia’s commercial photography students and that capture the many nationalities making up one of the nation’s most culturally diverse student populations.
The exhibition’s opening reception will take place at the LaGuardia Gallery of Photographic Arts, located in the College’s B-building (3rd floor) at 30-20 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City, from 6 to 8 p.m. The photographs will be on display through June 15. Viewing hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please call (718) 482-5985 or (718) 349-4028 or e-mail [email protected] .
“We have so many incredible faces at the college, and so many talented photography students who are able to come up with different concepts revolving around the idea of student portraiture,” said Scott Sternbach, chairperson of the commercial photography program and one of the project developers, “that the project seemed like a perfect idea.”
But the student-centered initiative goes beyond photography. While snap shooters were capturing their classmates, a group of students were videotaping the photography students in action, and a journalism student was interviewing student photographers and videographers and reporting on the event.
“We wanted to get as many students involved in this exciting project as possible from as many different discipline as possible,” said Susan Lyddon, Director of Marketing and Communications who also developed the project.
The photography project stirred plenty of interest among the commercial photography students who submitted over 200 images. Gathered was an eclectic collection that included classic studio portraiture, experimental abstract work, high-resolution photographs taken with large format cameras, environmental portraiture and images taken on-location. Out of that impressive pool, a panel of judges from the commercial photography department selected the 60 photographs for the exhibition.
One of the photographers whose work is being exhibited is Dora Yordanova. For her project, she went around the college randomly selecting students. “I was very democratic about it,” she said. “I was especially drawn to people with different ethnicities because that is the one thing that struck me about LaGuardia.”
She recruited over 30 subjects, and in a formal studio setting using a medium format camera, she created stunning images she described as “casual, direct and honest.”
“It was a wonderful experience,” said Dora who would like to have her own portrait studio one day. “It taught me how to approach and talk to people, how to work fast and how to improvise in a situation,” she said. “It definitely changed my methods as a portrait photographer.”
Not everyone who submitted photos was a commercial photography major. Elyse Hoffman, a veterinary technology who is taking a basic photography class, wanted to test the skills she learned in her black and white photography class. Using natural daylight, she captured her subjects in natural poses.
“It was a shocker to learn that my photographs were selected,” said Elyse who plans on taking more photography classes. “I did not think I had a chance competing with advanced photography students. I was very pleased to find out.”
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Located in Long Island City, Queens in New York City, LaGuardia Community College, part of the City University of New York, is a nationally recognized leader among community colleges. Founded in 1971, the College is recognized as an innovator in educating students who are under prepared for college work and/or are not primary English speakers. A catalyst for development in western Queens and beyond, LaGuardia serves New Yorkers and immigrants from 163 countries through over 50 majors and certificate programs, enabling career advancement and transfer to four-year colleges at twice the national average. Visit www.laguardia.edu to learn more.
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