Kodaroamers "Film Noir" exhibit opens in Lincoln
Artsy throwback to tough guy and ladies era

[September 09, 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.

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.

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]