Art

Sharp shooters

Young photographers train fresh eyes on Las Vegas

Susanne Forestieri

I’m so glad I made the trek to the Summerlin Library Visual Poetry photographic competition for junior high and high school students. Had I not, I would have missed an exhibition that is thoughtful and sophisticated—two qualities not normally associated with adolescents. But these students are exceptional; their work displays intelligence, personal vision and an ironic self-awareness that belies their youth.

Christy Rasmussen’s “Bathroom Friends” is a perfect example. Set in a garish red public bathroom, it uses manipulated images (via photo editing) of two girls sitting, looking in the mirror and walking, such that their opacity is reduced to ghostly images that become a visual corollary of evanescent relationships. That is in contrast to Rasmussen’s other photo, “E = Mc2,” which reinforces the sense of an enduring relationship through the use of visual clues. An older woman and a teenage girl (possibly mother and daughter) are pictured standing some distance apart against a background of severe, geometric architecture. The image is flipped and repeated several times to create a tessellated pattern that reinforces the relationship.

Michelle Johnson’s “Petals” uses a different kind of pattern. She’s not going to moon over some guy; she’s taking matters into her own hands. Pulling petals off a daisy while reciting “he loves me, he loves me not” is not for her. She assertively writes “LOVE” in bold capital letters on a petal, and that’s that.

Kaylee Zentai’s “Reminisce” is more coy. We see only the bottom half of a jeans-clad, barefoot teenage girl standing on the flexible seat of a swing, depressing it almost to the ground. She is further cropped by a white rectangular frame within the photographic rectangle. Rather than conveying the freedom and exhilaration we associate with swings, the encasement of the figure, heavy suspending chains and long, looping shadows cast by the playground equipment convey a feeling of imprisonment.

Ana Lerma’s “Seeing Through” is about a girl on the brink of womanhood. A beautiful young face with melting eyes is topped by a brow that seems garlanded, but is really composed of overlaid images—a hand, a pattern, a profile—each too intertwined to see clearly and sort out.

Clayton McGee’s “emersion” also overlays images on a girl’s head, but her features are replaced by a landscape: Trees burst into lurid colors, clouds blow across an intense cerulean sky, and a small gold-leaf pendant necklace is conflated with an intricately veined real one.

Although the imagery is a little too familiar, “emersion” won the Best of Show award, which entitles McGee to a solo exhibition some time next year. I’m curious to see what else he has up his sleeve.

At some point in my viewing of the exhibit I noticed that most of the students attended Coronado High School, so I called their photography teacher, Chrissy Pavesich. I found her an intelligent, devoted and enthusiastic individual who inspires creativity and knows how to assist students in achieving excellence. She couldn’t be more pleased with her current crop of talented young photographers. “This is the best year yet,” she told me.

A lot of the prizewinners are seniors and have been with her for four years. They’ve been able to build on what they’ve learned, and there was so much talent in this group that they became competitive—spurring each other on to achieve more and more, even forming groups and shooting on weekends. Some are old enough to drive and so can venture far afield to find unfamiliar locations.

Calvin Ball’s “The Tracks” depicts the eponymous gleaming rails in a setting that could be Central America. Decaying, graffiti-covered masonry looks as ancient as Mayan ruins. The sense of approaching catastrophe is enhanced by the storm clouds gathering on the horizon.

Magen Napier’s “Whaley House” shows a lace-curtained window, more typical of New England than Nevada. The elaborate script on a brass plaque proudly announcing the family name echoes perfectly the curved pattern in the lace.

Jordan Fenn’s “Decay” was shot in the Neon Boneyard, an outdoor museum for defunct vintage signs. The blocks of neon signage look like chunks of granite, more imposing on the ground than suspended above a casino entrance. The bulbs are busted and gasless, but their lack of luminescence is more than compensated for by the surfaces that reflect the bright desert light.

I must confess that I enjoyed this show more than some recent adult exhibitions. The world seen with fresh eyes from varying perspectives is irresistible.

7th Annual Visual Poetry Photographic Competition

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Through April 27

Summerlin Library, 507-3860

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