Contact: Robbie S. Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Exploring the connection between dreams and reality, photography by a Mississippi State University art professor will be on display through Oct. 30 in an exhibition at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colo.
MSU professor Marita Gootee's images from her series, Poolside, will begin showing Friday [Oct. 1] at the prestigious gallery. The images fit into the theme of "Low-tech," the name of the exhibition that looks at images made through primitive camera technology and includes works of 42 photographers representing Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Crista Dix, the founder and director of wall space gallery in Seattle and Santa Barbara, Calif., and juror for the exhibition, said using low-tech methods for photography in an increasingly technically sophisticated field helps focus on the intent of each artist.
"In this world of high-tech gadgets, megapixels and digital color management, the craft of photography is often buried in the details," Dix said. "The low-tech approach allows us to talk about the images, what the intent of the artist is, and the craft and creativity of photography."
With images titled "Lobster," "Spy Shark," and "Shadows," Gootee's photos in the exhibition were originally taken with an 8 by 10 pinhole camera using 809 Polaroid film, scanned and enlarged to 16 by 20 digital prints.
"The original 8 by 10 images are unique one-of-a-kind works of art and very delicate," the art professor said.
Gootee, who received her master of fine arts degree from Indiana State University, has had photographs featured in showings from Florida to Nevada and Virginia to Mississippi. She said her work, which recently received support from the Mississippi Arts Commission, doesn't seek to find the grand truths in life. Instead, her pieces serve as reminders of the special in the everyday.
"It's the small moments that come together to make life special," she said.
At MSU's Starkville campus, larger images of Lobster and Shadows can be viewed in the Sanderson Center as part of the university's College of Architecture, Art and Design's public art incentive program.
For more information, contact Gootee at 662-325-3039, gootee@ra.msstate.edu, or visit www.maritagootee.com.