Kodaroamers "Film Noir" exhibit opens
in
Lincoln
Artsy throwback to tough guy and ladies era
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[September 05, 2014]
LINCOLN - After a one month run at the
McLean County Arts Center in Bloomington, the photography exhibit
“Film Noir” opened in Lincoln Thursday evening at the Lincoln Art
Institute. The show will remain at the LAI through the end of
September.
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The exhibit consists of black and white photographs taken by
members of the photography club KodaRoamers in a style that recalls
the post World War II film noir movies. The dark photographs and
menacing subjects have all of the mystery of the femme fatale and
tough private eye that was the subject of many of the movies, think
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
The KodaRoamers is a Bloomington based photography club that has
been in existence for 70 years. Members have seen photography go
from slides that they developed in their home dark rooms to digital
cameras and the use of photo enhancing software.
The photographers meet in Bloomington twice a month for a communal
meal and workshops.
Vice president Denise LeCount O’Brien said that after an initial
hesitancy by the club members, who were mostly landscape and nature
photographers, the idea of trying a new direction for their
photography, a black and white exhibit of staged subjects, took off.
Over 300 photos were initially submitted for the juried show, which
was winnowed down to several dozen for the actual exhibit. While 300
photos were submitted, many more were actually taken as each pose
was photographed many times as the artist adjusted the lighting and
the poses of the people to get that perfect shot.
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Almost all of the photos were taken in
Bloomington at night, although a few were taken in Europe during
club member’s travels. O’Brien recounted that on at least one
occasion while posing a shot in an alley in Bloomington at
night, a police car rolled up and questioned the photographer
and subjects as they were trying to get the perfect shot. The
men were dressed in trench coats and fedoras and the women in
long dresses and 1940’s style hats.
Moses Pinkerton, director of the Lincoln Art Institute, said
that while he enjoys painting and sculpture and does not do
photography as art, he appreciates the composition and subject
matter of the current exhibit. He also mentioned that the
cohesive nature of the show, the flow of subject matter as one
moves from photo to photo, was extraordinary.
Pinkerton is the creator of Lincoln’s latest public sculpture,
“Cow in Corn” in Busby-Turner Park on Sangamon Street.
“Film Noir” will remain at the Lincoln Art Institute through the
end of September. Moses Pinkerton can be contacted at
217-651-8355 for information on exhibit hours. [By
CURT FOX] |