The Montclair State University Department of Art and Design is hosting the Time and Photo Student Showcase, a collection of student works. The showcase includes both time-based artworks by students enrolled in the Time art course and photographic work from the Integrative Studio III and Commercial Photography courses.
Christopher Kaczmarek, the chair of the Department of Art and Design, installed the showcase and spoke about its origins.
“This exhibition is an evolution of the TIME student work showcase that I initiated in 2019,” Kaczmarek explained. “There is a foundations class in the department, ARFD200 TIME, that I often teach, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to create a cross department focal point and a public sharing of work early in a student’s academic career. So, I worked with the other professors who were teaching TIME- there are multiple sections- to create a structure to collect and select work, and then organized and mounted the exhibition. We have been doing it almost every semester since.”
Works from the Integrative Studio III course like Mike Ezpeleta's create an audio-visual experience by combining photography with immersive audio tracks. Sal DiMaggio | The Montclarion
This particular showcase is unique not only because it combines different courses from the Department of Art and Design, but also due to its cross-disciplinary and lens-based focus. Upon walking into the exhibit, visitors are greeted by different video projects playing on projectors around the room. Several photography and drawing projects of varying styles and themes adorn the walls, highlighting the diverse talents of the students.
Student photography projects line the walls of the Time and Photo Student Showcase. Sal DiMaggio | The Montclarion
One of those students is Yazemin Yilmaz, a senior film and TV major enrolled in the Commercial Photography course.
“All these pictures are from different assignments,” Yilmaz said. “One of the photos is a example of product photography… another assignment is portrait, that was actually one of our first assignments. My most recent assignment is product when it comes to food photography.”
Yilmaz explained one of her brand photography assignments on display, photographed on a Nikon D3300 and edited in Adobe Lightroom.
“This was part of my second assignment, I was in charge of pretty much through photography and branding of street clothing,” Yilmaz said. “So, these are my friends who own the Bodega [jiu-jitsu] gym. That was a fun segment and had a blast. I ended up getting a lot of actual feedback from those photos, because they posted it on their socials, and they have a huge following.”
Yazemin Yilmaz's, a senior film and TV. major, photography project promoting the Bodega Jiu Jistu martial arts gym. Sal DiMaggio | The Montclarion
After graduation, Yilmaz plans to pursue a photography career and already owns a photography company.
“After I graduate, I’m trying to go into photography, videography, anything content creation,” Yilmaz said. “So whether it’s digital media or physical media, it’s been a game changer for me being able to be part of the [Commercial Photography] class because [the professor] really shows you how to run a business. So the class in itself is a tool that benefits not only your creative skills but your business skills.”
Kalee Chaudhry, a sophomore visual arts major, had her video project, “Earth’s Damaged Core,” displayed in the showcase. She spoke about her inspiration behind choosing global warming as the topic of her piece, which featured video clips of natural disasters, politicians debating the legitimacy of climate change and natural landscapes damaged by human pollution.
“[The topic of] global warming really interests me,” Chaudhry said. “[The piece is about] trying to get back to a state where the Earth can be healthier. I showed a lot about how politics go into it, and there’s so many ways that us civilians can go about changing things.”
A projector plays a loop of video projects from the showcase. Sal DiMaggio | The Montclarion
Kaczmarek’s goal with the showcase is for each of the pieces to speak with viewers on an individual level.
“While I hope that visitors to the exhibition engage with each of the individual pieces and receive something meaningful from the experience, I also hope that they are given a bit of an insight into the incredible amount of collective creativity that the students in the Department of Art and Design bring into the world through their work,” Kaczmarek elaborated. “The spectrum of subjects, the diversity of lens based engagements and both the playfulness and professionalism that is on display in this exhibit is outstanding and I hope that everyone will be able to come by and enjoy it.”
One of Yazemin Yilmaz's portrait photography projects on display at the Time and Photo Student Showcase. Sal DiMaggio | The Montclarion
The Time and Photo Student Showcase is on display in the Finley Gallery until April 11.
