New York University: NYU Tisch BFA Photography and Imaging Student Exhibition, Show One, Opens in Kimmel Windows

The first of three exhibitions of thesis projects from the Class of 2021 is on view in the window vitrines of the Kimmel Center located at 60 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10003.
SHOW ONE is an exhibition featuring works in photography, digital imaging, and multimedia by 11 graduating seniors from the Class of 2021 in New York University’s Department of Photography & Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts.
SHOW ONE is the first in a series of three BFA exhibitions of the work of the entire graduating Photography & Imaging class. It is installed in the 13 sidewalk-facing window vitrines of the Kimmel Center and will remain on view through March 1st, 2021.

For more information, visit http://tisch.nyu.edu/photo or call 212.998.1930 or email [email protected].

Ellie Bates – Design Through Time: There is an admiration of the past in terms of clothing, art and style that is undeniable. Magazines are imitating old graphics, designers are taking steps back and paying ode to original fashions, photo filters are being created to make a post look “retro”. This fascination seems to stem from the longing for better, simpler times. Nostalgia is a feeling anyone and everyone is in love with these days. This obsession with the past is the basis of this collection, combining graphic design, fashion and photography into one final product. For each photograph, a garment was hand-painted with decade specific graphic elements, and photographed imitating iconic fashion photography from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s.

Matt Bernstein – Looking?: In “Looking?”, Matt Bernstein explores his personal relationship with the often hidden issues affecting gay men. From meth use to the disdain for femininity, Bernstein visualizes the dissonance between a post-marriage equality mainstream depiction of gay life in America versus the lived reality of many within the community. By putting jarring messaging in public spaces, Bernstein aims to create a nuanced public perception of a community whose struggles never started nor ended with the legalization of marriage.

Natasha Fradkin – Modern Antiquity: Past and present, antiquity and modernity. Modern Antiquity pulls from photographic history to create new work that remains connected and inspired by its past in the modern day. It challenges the idea of a single self, a single existence, and a single being through these images, while also questioning what traditional modernity and femininity is. Fradkin brings in traditional analog photography to add layers to the once male-run medium, as well as utilizing the same medium as a nod to photographic history, and a duality of self; what a person looks like on the outside does not mean that is what they are on the inside. This work was made to not only reflect the artist—her dualities, her questions, and her perspectives—but also to cause introspection within its viewer.

Andres Guerrero – Huellas en la Frontera (Footprints on the Border): Migrant flow from Latin America has always been a topic of debate in the United States. Motives such as violence, insecurity, poverty, and family reunification drive people to make the arduous journey from their home country to the United States. Families continue to risk their lives and freedom to cross the Mexico-United States border and live undocumented. Huellas en La Frontera attempts to reference culture, history, and lived experience. To amplify these references, the compositions include self-portraits where the artist occupies the landscape in his U.S. Air Force uniform to evaluate their experience in the United States as someone who crossed the border in Brownsville, TX as a child, lived undocumented, and served in the military.

Grace Hinchen – Surf Montauk: Surf Montauk provides a glimpse of what life was like in Montauk, NY during Summer 2020, taking into account the widespread repercussions of COVID-19 and the community support for the Black Lives Matter movement. It also highlights the unique surf culture that lies at the heart of Montauk. The importance of surfing, the significance of the ocean, and the passion for the beach become the subtext in each of these photographs. Surf Montauk is the culmination of five months’ work spanning from May to September of 2020, during a time that will forever be in the history books and when surfing served a purpose much larger than itself.

Ayesha Kazem – This Home of Ours: “This Home of Ours” serves as a contemporary time capsule of the Bo Kaap neighbourhood’s rich history within Cape Town, South Africa. At a time when both an influx of foreign residents and the COVID-19 pandemic are endangering the livelihood of many residents, this series seeks to provide a platform of visibility that amplifies the voices of community members and chronicles their experiences for generations to come. In paying homage to the individuals that raised the artist during her childhood, she returned to this community as a young adult with the aim of capturing these individuals through familial, intimate portraits in which she hopes viewers will see themselves and their family members reflected in the work. By illustrating Bo Kaap as more than its mesmerizingly colorful facade and its monetary value as a point of prime real estate, the artist aims to elucidate outsiders to its distinct character and its residents’ strong sense of unity.

Shelby Kraut – Rapture: This series of photographs reflects on the human capacity to experience a sense of divine beauty and wonder within our modern dystopia. For many, it would not be hyperbolic to say that we have been living through a time that feels apocalyptic. We are being forced to grapple with some of the most extreme existential threats humankind has ever faced while, for the most part, going about our normal lives. This project explores the wide range of emotions that this state of mind brings about, and how this can be evoked visually.

So many landscapes of the United States, to the artist, house a profound dissonance. These landscapes hold memories and sensibilities that often feel completely disconnected from our current world. What do we do with these ghosts of former ways of living, and what does it mean to live among them?

routhemartian – the new aristocrats : The noun “ Aristocracy “ has been a term that’s encompassed many cultures throughout history. The new Aristocrats is a redefinition of aristocracy that brings light to people of color as symbols of power and beauty.

Shina Tser-shiuan Peng – 「ハーフ」ha-fu : 「ハーフ」is an ongoing documentary series that photographs and interviews mixed Japanese race individuals residing in Japan. In the interviews, ha-fus share their story and also recount ostracizing experiences that vary from passive comments to overt racism. Oftentimes people are unaware how their comments and actions can be discriminatory. And though they may seem insignificant for the person doing it, those who experience it are repeatedly reminded that they do not belong. These moments can shape the perception of the ha-fus’ multicultural identity. Many ha-fu may say that they don’t belong or that they don’t fit the stereotype that is perpetuated by the Japanese society for mixed individuals. And though that can be packaged as negativity, it is a reflection of social ideologies that exist globally. Our attention and questions should be directed to the society that expects multicultural individuals to fit into a singular cultural and national narrative.

Katina Pennington – Woodlawn: Woodlawn is a project that explores my perspective of the neighborhood that the artist has called home for fifteen years. While focusing on and appreciating all of the different characteristics of her community, urban greenery became relevant. It creates a sense of inclusivity and nurture in a neighborhood. Each area illustrates traces of the inhabitants of this community and those that have lived there before. By exploring these different spaces, the artist aims to bring attention to the way greenery elevates urban neighborhoods.

Tejan Rahim – In the Teeth of the Most Terrifying Odds: This project is a meditation on what it means to live in, as James Baldwin so aptly put it in his essay “A Letter to my Nephew”, the teeth of the most terrifying odds.

About the Department of Photography and Imaging (DPI) in Tisch School of the Arts
The Department of Photography and Imaging (DPI) in Tisch School of the Arts at New York University is a four-year B.F.A. program situated in New York City. Centered on the making and understanding of images, DPI offers students both the intensive focus of an arts curriculum while demanding a broad grounding in the liberal arts. Our department embraces multiple perspectives and approaches which encourages critical engagement both in and outside of the classroom. Our majors explore photo-based imagery as personal and cultural expression while working in virtually all modes of analog and digital photo-based image making, multimedia, new media, immersive, and post-photographic 3D simulation technologies.