The HUB-Robeson Galleries' Art Alley will be transformed into a memory lane today, as Michelle Rogers' vintage-style black-and-white photographs go on display through Jan. 10.
"She gives a sense that these photos are timeless," said Jennifer Lynch, communications assistant for HUB-Robeson Galleries. "They could have been taken centuries ago or days ago."
Rogers has her own dark room and uses different types of bleaching and toning to make her photographs appear antique.
She's been working in black-and-white photography and collecting old postcards for 20 years. Finding a way to combine these elements into one work has become her way of creating unique art in a world where the process of taking pictures has become easy with digital photography, Rogers said.
"It's very hard to find personal expression in photography," she said. "I've found mine."
Ann Shields, director of the HUB-Robeson Galleries, said she encourages students to visit the exhibit because of the emotional appeal Rogers' work displays.
"Her language is universal, and I think students can relate to many special moments that she's captured," Shields said.
The photos displayed in this exhibit are created by combining three images within one frame, a method called triptych, Lynch said.
Rogers' process involves photographing a postcard and matching it up with two negatives she already has in her collection. The title of the postcard lends its title to the finished triptych, Rogers said.
"I like very much the interaction between the three images," she said.
A distinguishing feature of Rogers' photos is the presence of a figure in a bowler hat, always seen from the back.
"My work is very surrealistic," Rogers said. "I felt I need a human presence in it. I wanted to have a person, devoid of gender, of social status."
