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High School Photographers at Villa Maria

The awards ceremony at Villa Maria's juried high school photography exhibit.

Discovering

If the 2013 edition Villa Maria College juried high school photography exhibit had a title, it could be “Discovering.”

Discovering the beauty and magnificence of the natural and built world around us, which we don’t see until we focus on it, which we may not do until the photographic act. The exquisite quality of raindrops on a leaf by Taylor Kowich; the elaborate structures and lush colors of flowers in photos by Arealla Spates, Shaneequa Cheney, Dominique Murray, and Molly Haas; the intricacy of architectural detail of downtown buildings we see so often we may not bother to look anymore, a lantern and terra cotta on the Prudential/Guaranty Building by Lauren Dibartolomeo; the underside of a Roman triumphal arch accessway portion of the Ellicott Square Building, by Mary Critoph; a close-up of the clock tower and allegorical statues, Erie County Court Building, by Jasmine Lupejkis.

Discovering the art of photography. Principles of composition, in black and white and color. The genres, pictorialist, abstract, nature photography, still life, and portraits of humans and animals. A horse by Lee Daudelin, a squirrel by Nora Ramsey, a pet mouse by Amanda Brodfuehrer, a cat, partially concealed behind a doorway, considering its next move, by Blake Peterson. Portraits of high school beautiful girls, by Alexander Currie, Brandie Jock, Oscar J. Heard III.

Discovering poetry. The elegiac mode. Scenes and situations past or passing. A view down the length of an old and abandoned, it looks like, railway bridge in an urban setting, in winter, the tracks and bridge iron structural members snow-covered, by Jackie Gullotti; a shadowy dark forest scene of standing and askew fallen timber, nature at work, cycling and recycling, by Kate King; longer-term recycling projects, an ancient rusty bike and broken glass amid high grass in an empty urban lot, by Adam Bunyan, and old telephone pole and attached iron hardware, by Lauren Mye.

There’s a superb nature scene with family of Canada geese—mom and dad and half a dozen or so fledglings—on shimmering water under similarly shimmering foliage and bushes in flower, and with a low archways bridge in the background, by Deja Walker. And intriguing enigma on enigma work by Jennifer Janowsky, with crude geometrical drawing—a little like stick figures, a little like random scratchings in the film emulsion—over a mysterious female figure in some kind of dance or trance or ecstatic moment in a woods.

Much more to see. The juried high school photographic works show continues through June 14.

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