Thursday, April 3, 1997
Daily Bruin photographers showcase photos that capture both
breaking news and life’s subtler, personal moments
at Kerckhoff Art Gallery.By Alicia Cheak
Daily Bruin Contributor
ll words and no images in a newspaper make for a dull and
perhaps cumbersome read. So enter the photographer, whose task is
to bridge the writer’s words and real life.
This week, Kerckhoff Art Gallery hosts "Photos By … Daily
Bruin Photographers’ Personal Focus," selected black and white
photographs from the Daily Bruin photographers who scurry around
campus documenting political, recreational and artistic events.
Veterans and novices have put together a series of images from
stories covered for the paper in addition to those more personal in
nature. As a whole, the photographers show diverse perspectives and
personalities to newspaper readers.
Inga Dorosz, a third-year political science student, became
involved with the Daily Bruin last quarter. Her contribution of
three black and white photographs captures a ballet recreation
class held at the John Wooden Center.
"I wanted to use something I did for The Bruin, something I
liked," Dorosz says of her selection. For this exhibit, Dorosz has
added some artistic flair to the images. Circular and smeared
strokes, the result of selective exposure, heighten the effect of
movement. Dorosz herself took the ballet class, which left her with
three beautiful images.
Likewise, the pieces chosen by Assistant Photo Editor Susie Chu,
a fourth-year sociology student, deeply reflect the roots of her
culture. "A’kuong A’mma" captures her grandparents seated and
surrounded by photographs of family members. "Generations" is a
sensitive rendering of her grandmother and great-grandson on a bed.
Both are grinning with arms extended, share the same bed and are
connected by blood. Chu chose to use a more personal picture in
A’kuong A’mma because this is the first time she has seen her
grandparents from Taiwan in 15 years since her migration to the
United States.
"These images are extensions of who I am, of where I come from,"
Chu explains. "Photographs are very powerful, they stir memories."
Chu adds that these images might be the last momentos of her aged
relatives back in Taiwan. In addition to her job at the Daily
Bruin, Chu was also recently named the 1996 California College
Photographer of the Year by The California Press Photographers
Association.
Assistant Photo Editor Justin Warren captured a unique event
held at the Kerckhoff Art Gallery last year. The Spontaneous
Combustion of Music & Art brought UCLA musicians and artists
together in the spirit of unified creation. Music guided the
artists’ strokes and vice versa as the two mediums of expression
worked off each other.
A darkened outline of musician David Borgo stands in the
foreground playing the saxophone while artist Brandon Penn works
away with his oils in the back. It is a sultry, smoky-like image,
and one can almost hear the soulful music, smell the oils and
imagine the painter working feverishly in the jazzed-up
atmosphere.
Another ethereal piece is Photo Editor Patrick Lam’s "Ghost
Story," a performance shot at the ’96 production given by members
of the Association of Chinese Americans. The play may be in the
past but part of it is preserved in the multiple exposure of a
woman in a long flowing traditional Chinese gown with even longer
sleeves, gliding across the stage.
Shawn Laksmi, a history and art history student, had the
challenge of capturing John Singleton during an interview he did
for the movie "Rosewood."
"I try to capture a good moment, make something interesting of a
kind of boring situation," Laksmi says. Interviews might be quite
awkward, but looking at the photograph, the situation has been
ousted by an angled facial shot of the actor and director. Laksmi
catches Singleton glancing through sunglasses, eyes diverted from
the camera lens. Yet, his presence continues to be imposing.
The exhibit provides a closer look at how each photographer sees
the world. How each image is captured (why one moment and not
another, why this angle and not that) reveals people’s reactions to
the events in their lives. Scents and noises come alive and viewing
the photos revives the original moment when the camera clicked.
ART: "Photos By … Daily Bruin Photographers’ Personal Focus,"
is on view at the Kerckhoff Art Gallery until Friday.
"Strength in Spirit," by Justin Warren, is on display until
Friday at Kerckhoff Art Gallery.
"A’kuong A’mma," by Susie Ming Hwa Chu, is currently on display
at Kerckhoff Art Gallery.
"Quick Hit," by Patrick Lam, captures the intensity of the
Infiniti Open.