April 16, 2008

OWU student, alumna team up for photography exhibit

Photographs from Amy Schweizer ’09, top, and Shirley Jeffrey ’54, bottom, focus on water in natural environments.

“I can’t remember ever having done it before,” says Justin Kronewetter, director of the Richard M. Ross Art Museum, of exhibiting a current student’s artwork alongside an alumna’s artwork. He first saw Schweizer’s photographs in a weekly class critique last spring and immediately thought of the similarities to Jeffrey’s work. The rest is history.

Schweizer, a sociology-anthropology major from Granville, Ohio, has always been interested in nature and photography. With a mother who coaches a swim team and a father who’s an avid scuba diver, Schweizer’s gravitation toward water is not surprising.

“I was hiking one day and noticed how interesting water patterns can be, so I just kind of jumped on it,” she says of taking her first macro-style photos in a creek bed. “It’s a different way of looking at the natural world.”

Jeffrey’s journey to photography was a gradual one. The religion major and Columbus, Ohio, native didn’t really pick up a camera until 20 years ago, after spending her professional life as a psychotherapist. She’s found peace and comfort in photographing a river literally in her “own back yard,” now in Wauwatosa, Wis.

“Intuitively, I knew [the river] was a place where I could lose myself, and at the same time, find myself,” says Jeffrey, of discovering the impact photography made on her life. “If I am a photographer, it is because the river has been my teacher. Of course the water is always new. The banks influence the flow. Weather has its influence. Time of day makes monumental difference.”

Technology, too, has influenced Jeffrey’s outlook and approach to photography.

“And now that the infirmities of age are often overwhelming, and I can no longer go to the river, I am taking images captured over the years, and creating new images – new generations of an instant in time,” she says. “When one is no longer mobile, the computer provides an opportunity to continue to see and reflect, and wonder about life.”

The exhibit title – “From Generation to Generation” – reflects the affiliation Schweizer and Jeffrey share as members of the OWU community, their interest in photographic style, and their generational differences.

Says Kronewetter, “Here’s a woman who found photography later in life, and we have another woman who found it early in life. It will be interesting to see if Amy continues to pursue photography professionally or if she changes her focus.”

Although Schweizer isn’t quite sure what career she’ll pursue after graduation, she hasn’t ruled out combining her interests in photography with her major in sociology-anthropology. For now, she’s focused on the “From Generation to Generation” exhibit.

“I think anyone who has an appreciation for nature or the natural world will enjoy [the exhibit],” she says. “It’s definitely pleasing to the eye.”

— Ann Marcum