STORY BY JONATHAN SINTORA, STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY JONATHAN SINTORA, STAFF WRITER
Cypress College Photo Club and The Edouard de Merlier Photography Gallery present their first photo gallery of the 2024 semester.
The gallery consists of four solo exhibitions from graduating students covering contemporary issues. The exhibit also made great efforts to showcase upcoming students by dedicating a section exclusively for beginning students enrolled in Photography 101.
Photo by Jonathan Sintora, Staff Writer
Images from the Photography 101 Exhibit from the gallery that was included to showcase the work of the beginner students.
When promoting the gallery, Head of Photography at Cypress College Tony Maher said, “They each exhibit the balance between artful and conceptual creation with sound technical skill.” Students Natalie Elias and Jessica Guillen shared with the Cypress Chronicle the message behind their work and what they want visitors to learn from their exhibits.
The multimedia exhibit, “…It’s a Spectrum” by Natalie Elias explores the sexual spectrum and asks important questions through imagery and interviews. In their exhibit, Elias sets out to find if there’s a difference between “having sex” and “making love.”
In the interview segment of the exhibit, Elias’ models answered questions related to intimacy and sex. Elias expressed the importance of both the photos and response going hand in hand. Elias said, “It [the interview] gives you more to look at and read. It gives you more of an understanding of the person.”
Elias continued, “I feel like if it was just the image alone, it would be seen as more raunchy, more sexual… but that’s not the point of it.”
For Elias, there was an understanding that the topic of sex can be taboo. It was important for her that she created an exhibit that left viewers curious, not uncomfortable. Elias said, “There’s no interview without the picture, there’s no picture without the interview. They can only work together. Having that interview and forcing people to read opens them up.”
Like much of Elias’ other work, there is an overlying theme of being open-minded and accepting towards one another. Elias said, “That’s the root of all my work. Everything really is on a spectrum. We all may go through the same things, but how we got there, how we handled it, how we are feeling in that moment, they are all so different. So we all need to be open-minded.”
Student Jessica Guillen tackled several other contemporary issues with the two exhibits “Cruz De Olvido” and “Las Cicatrices Que Se Carga.”
“Cruz De Olvido” captured couches placed in front of homes which people were trying to get rid of. Guillen viewed her work as “trying to replace something that is still seemingly useable.” From the images, Guillen explored several questions that span beyond ordinary couches. Guillen said, “It brings up these questions; Why are these people throwing out these couches? Did they find something better?”
In her exhibit, Guillen initially asked questions regarding the end of a journey. She shortly realized that her initial question was pointless as the couch was given a new opportunity to move on and grow. Guillen said, “I think that message reflects on us as individuals. We have similar journeys where we might be ending somewhere, but that’s just the start of another journey for us.”
“Las Cicatrices Que Se Carga.” follows Guillen’s mother and her ongoing health problems. Guillen wanted to turn her mother’s story into a message that portrays resilience and strength. Guillen said, “The only way you would know that she is not doing well health-wise is if you sit down and talk to her.”
Guillen used her mother’s story to show that we all have more beneath the surface.
For Guillen, the most important message was about understanding. Guillen said, “We should walk with a little more grace and treat people with a little more kindness because you never know what people are going through.”
The Cypress College Photo Gallery is on display in the Cypress College Tech Ed 1 Building (2nd Floor).
