Photographer focuses on mystery
Go! feature
A Monroe photographer’s fictional scene of a “Backyard Tragedy” has been selected for the “Trick of the Light” exhibition at Cincinnati’s Manifest Gallery.
As part of a class project at the Antonelli Institute for Photography, Francis Michaels chose backyards as a location topic and sought to create something “dark and moody” and ironic.
“We think of backyards as safe places, where tragedies don’t usually happen,” he said. “I set the whole thing up. There are no bodies, no blood, but the photos give you the impression that there might have been a body or that something bad has happened.”
The series of photos, currently at four, can be seen at his web site, www.fjmphotography.com. Of the two he submitted, one titled “Spirit,” was chosen by curator Dennis Kiel, former curator of photography at the Cincinnati Art Museum.
The exhibition called for photographs that revealed “the power of light-based imagery to communicate, express, or evoke a visceral first-hand experience as strong as any painting or sculpture exhibit.”
Kiel, now Chief Curator at the Light Factory in Charlotte, N.C., said that “Spirit” was a good example of using light for a dramatic narrative effect.
“The mystery is there, that something has happened or just about to happen,” he said. “Even without the title, you’d be fascinated by it.”
Michaels also currently has photography on exhibit at the Sweet Art of Mine Gallery in West Chester, where he will be on hand at an open house, 4 to 8 p.m., Dec. 21.
- WHAT: “Trick of the Light: Contemporary Photography”
- WHERE: Manifest Gallery and Drawing Center, 2727 Woodburn Ave., Cincinnati
- WHEN: Opening reception 6 to 9 p.m. today; exhibition continues through Jan. 11
- COST: No charge
- MORE INFO: (513) 861-3638; www.manifestgallery.org
