Clarksville, Ark. --- University of the Ozarks' Walton Professor of Music Dr. Sharon Gorman will have her black and white photography exhibit Altered Space featured in the Stephens Art Gallery throughout the month of November as part of the university's Artist of the Month series.
The exhibit will run from Nov. 2-30 in the Stephens Gallery, which is located in the Walton Fine Arts Center on the Clarksville campus. The gallery is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and there is no charge for admission. There will be a reception to meet the artist from 6-7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Gorman, who has served as a music professor and organist at the university since 1996, said most of the photographs in the Altered Space exhibit were taken during hiking trips through the American West from 2007-2009.
"Traveling in these places, I have often felt as if I were transported somehow to an alien planet," said Gorman, who earned her Ph.D. in music from Stanford University. "Such places are full of opportunities to encounter altered space."
Gorman said she sees the world differently when she has black and white film in her camera.
"Whereas my everyday sight is seduced and distracted by color, black and white photography draws my attention to form and texture and heightens my sensitivity to light and shadow," she said. "Black and white film itself has a wider tonal range than color film. Because of this, it is capable of capturing subtle changes in value that expose even the smallest crevices, irregularities and shadows, revealing interesting surfaces and patterns. The result is often something more tactile and ‘real’ than color photography can reproduce. Yet, somewhat paradoxically, there is also an enticing sense of mystery in black and white photographs, a feeling of something hidden."