[Leica] Havana Notes Exhibition Review

[Tom Johnston <Tom.Johnston@wwu.edu>]

Havana Notes Exhibition Review



This is the final week of the exhibition ?Havana Notes? at Western
Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.  The exhibit features the
work of three Vancouver, B.C. photographers, Tom Abrahamsson, Gary Blakeley,
and Chris Cameron, who traveled to Cuba last year to make photographs and
visit friends.  They returned with rolls and rolls of black and white film
shot with their Leicas and when they came out of their darkrooms found they
each had a body of work worthy of exhibition.  Careful editing resulted in
the exhibit Havana Notes, now in its first U.S. showing following the
premier in Vancouver earlier this year.

Each of the photographers brings their unique view on this capital city and
it?s inhabitants: Abrahamsson?s years in Paris show through in his dark and
moody, carefully composed streetscapes, where, for example, a dimly lit
doorway yields mystery in the rich, dark values.  His eye for the
surrealistic is evidenced in a dramatic wide-angle view in which a blurred
figure is set in motion against the large, building façade that carries the
handless clock.  The print, masterfully composed and executed yields about
the most one can expect from a 35mm negative printed at sixteen/twenty.  The
wide range of values, from the dark, blurred figure, to the silvery light on
the building?s façade reinforce his love of quick shooting where much is
captured in a fleeting moment.

Gary Blakeley presents a variety of images of daily life.  One of his most
unusual is the man with the pierced face.  This straightforward street
portrait shows us, in all detail, the numerous rings and needles that are in
residence, (un) masking his identity and revealing his personality.  A
powerful and haunting image to some and no doubt considered a model to
aspire to for others.

Chris Cameron engages the personalities with an intimacy rare in today?s
photographers.  The relationships he builds, some at a moment?s notice, has
a feeling of intimacy of long time friends.  Time is a reminder, referenced
so beautifully in his portrait of Alberto Korda.  This portrait shows Korda
shortly before his death, looking out at us with dignity and honor, the
creator of one of the world?s most famous and highly reproduced images.
Korda seems to remind us that he was the age of Che when he snapped that
iconic image.

Anna Thomas, songwriter/vocalist, from Vancouver found common ground in
Brazilian music performed at the reception with David Feingold and Grant
Donnellan, two members of the music faculty at Western Washington
University, well known to northwest audiences and beyond.

Havana Notes is a rewarding exhibition and functions on many levels from the
pure joy of life, song, and dance in this vital country, to the beautiful
photographic images so masterfully composed, exposed, and presented.  A
sampling of images from the exhibition can be viewed at:
http://www.blakeleydesign.com/topolino/
The exhibit runs through Saturday, May 11th at Gallery 507 in the Viking
Union Building on Western?s campus.
 

Tom Johnston- Department of Art
College of FIne and Performing Arts
Western Washington University
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