From March 27 to April 24, the class of ARTS 4372 Advanced Photography: Portfolio, taught by associate professor Marilyn Waligore, had the opportunity to showcase a piece of their choosing to display in Nebula Gallery, located on the 3rd floor of McDermott Library.
The artworks ornament the walls of Nebula Gallery, an area embedded into the library amongst staff offices and right before the rows of bookshelves begin. This strategic placement encourages all those who pass by, particularly staff and students, to look, ponder upon and appreciate pieces made by fellow UTD community members.
Pieces ranged from capturing quiet glimpses, almost pausing time to focus on one thing amid a million amongst a bustling, fast-paced world, to curated scenes of sentimental items to incite feelings of nostalgia and reflection, to the close relationship between nature and architecture.
Annually led and organized by Waligore for several years now, the exhibition is designed to be like a final project for her students to apply what they have learned throughout her class to a real-world opportunity. For some students, this was the first chance they were given to really tap into their emotions and discover what they wanted to share with the world through photography. This was especially the case for Visual and Performing Arts senior Brendan Young.
“A lot of my photography before was more just what I was told was good … but this is the first time I really got to put my real artistic vision into a piece, and I was so much more happy with both the end result and the process itself,” he said.
For his piece, Young chose to depict a lone angel at the end of the world, left to singlehandedly fight against the darkness and restore light to the land. The angel is meant to represent the last hope for humanity in a world where it feels like there’s nothing left to fight for.
The process from start to finish was a tremendous learning experience for the students, he said. Young’s take away from it was to seize the opportunities he finds to discover what resonates with him as an artist.
“Chase after what you enjoy and try to put that into your art instead of conforming to what other people tell you to do,” Young said.
