Art Event #6

Museum of Photographic Arts

Over the spring break, I visited MoPA. There were several exhibitions in the museum (which are still currently there), but the ones that I will talk about in particular are “Lou Stoumen: The Naked Truth”, “Lou Stoumen Award Winners: The Legacy".

The first exhibit, “Lou Stoumen: The Naked Truth” featured some of his works. Stoumen was a photographer, a writer, a soldier, a filmmaker, a teacher, and an adventurer. He traveled to many places such as China, India, Mexico, Africa, South America, and Alaska. Through his travels, he wanted to capture the energy of a changing world in his photographs. In his work, you can tell a lot about the times that each particular photo was taken. His photos are filled with culture and a certain wonder about the world around him. There was a focus on the everyday lives of people from the different countries that he had visited. I felt like I could relate to him in this way. I’ve always been someone who has a great interest in the cultures of different countries. Even engaging in things such as learning a variety of different languages or having a willingness to try other cultural foods that I have never tried before have become a part of who I am. This sense of wonder and excitement that I have for the world and the variety of people that live in it is something very beautiful that can be captured through a lens. As I view Stoumen’s works, I feel that he has this same excitement. Stoumen is also drawn to the power of text and image to enhance our understanding of the world. He combined his own writing and photographs to create “paper movies”. This reminds me of graphic design, and how it is not only about aesthetics, but also about communication and how well you can communicate something through a particular image. I wrote down an interesting quote from Stoumen: “I try to learn enough art, compassion, and laughter to stop time occassionally – to manifest on photographic paper a few ordinary miracles.”