ARTS
MAY 17, 2018
EL CAMINO COLLEGE UNION 7
STEPPING OUT: Faith Petrie, Managing Editor,
@ECCUnionFaith
Everything you need to know about the photo gallery ‘Step Outside the Everyday’
Photography professor Darilyn Rowan has taught at El Camino College for 29 years. She spoke with The Union about the Schauerman Library’s newest photography exhibition “Step Outside the Everyday,” an exhibition containing art taken by members of the South Bay Camera Club (SBCC). What initially sparked your interest in photography? ROWAN: My interest in photography actually began as a high school journalist. I was the managing editor of my high school newspaper and I wrote for my high school newspaper and I developed a real passion for journalism, I took journalism in high school but I began as a writer. I also had an interest in all areas of the arts, visual arts and art history as well as studio art and visual art and I took a class in photography when I was in college and right away knew that it was something I wanted to pursue. What is your affiliation with the South Bay Camera Club? ROWAN: In the spring of 1992 I organized the first annual student photography exhibition here at El Camino College. I began a tradition of a yearly exhibition of student photographs in the lobby of the college library and several of my students were members of the SBCC. The SBCC is one of
Jack Kan/ Union “Watermelon Legs” was shot by Linda Detwiler Burns, who is the curator and has been the club president of the South Bay Camera Club for the past two years.
the oldest continuously operating camera clubs in the country. It meets twice a month at the Torrance Airport Administration Center. They actually have a website that you can look up. Several of my students at El Camino College in my early years of teaching were members of the SBCC and officers in it. I was invited during my first few years (of teaching) to lecture at the SBCC. I went as a part of community outreach and I went and did a critique of members work so over the years, about every two or three years I would go and give a critique or lecture to the SBCC and encourage our students to participate. I would always notify the camera club about our spring exhibitions and some of them came to our receptions. I began to encourage them to have an exhibition of their own here. About four years ago, I went to the camera club and made an announcement about that the library was accepting applications for exhibitions for the following year. I brought an application for them and they submitted it and they were awarded their first show here. Every spring or summer they have an exhibition of member’s work that involve everything from black and white to color, there have been film photographs, digital photographs. But my affiliations was really as a professor here to support the organization and
to encourage our students to participate. My affiliation was really as a representative of the college encouraging community participation. Do you know an overall concept of what the artist wanted the audience to see with their photography? ROWAN: I think the exhibition reflects the idea that learning photography can teach you to see without a camera and that the process of photography can encourage a person to explore the beauty and mystery in our everyday lives. I think the title reflects the goal of the photographers to take a look at the beauty and mystery of the natural world that we all live in everyday and I think they have done it brilliantly. In particular there are photographs that reflect close up details of the natural world so it’s not the way we normally see that object. A dandelion appears very large in a close up of it so we see the detail and the beauty and the mystery of that. One of my favorite pieces is the photograph by Roberto Reid (“Egret with reflection beauty”). That photograph stands out to me because even though it’s in color it’s very monochromatic with the white of the bird against that dark mysterious background and the beautiful reflection of the bird in the water. There are many beautiful pieces but that one stood out to me in particular.
The exhibition “Step Outside the Everyday” will end on Friday, June 1 and is available for viewing in the Schauerman Library’s lobby.
WALK, WALK FASHION BABY
Tailor Made Fashion Club to host 36th annual fashion show Jack Kan
Special to The Union @ECCUnionJackK
On Tuesday, May 29 the Tailor Made Fashion Club sponsored 36th annual fashion show will kick off at 7 p.m. in the East Dining Room above the El Camino College Bookstore. This year’s theme is “City of Lights.” The event will be hosted by EC lecturer Gayle Baizer, who is a costume designer and stylist in her own right. The show will also feature a “Mini Hair Show” by the EC Cosmetology Department. This event is the culmination of the Fashion 44 class “Fashion Show Production”, taught by professor
Vera Bruce Ashley of the EC Fashion Department. The show is run by fashion student committees. Eight designers are set to design and produce a full collection of five pieces each. These collections will be shown by more than twenty models. The models were selected through an exhaustive process consisting of two model calls which took place at the Students Activities Center on Thursday, March 29 and on Tuesday, April 3. The casting calls were open to the public at large, as candidates of all ages, shapes, sizes, ethnicities, and experience levels were sought. For example, Ashley said that the “plus size” segment of the fashion
apparel market is becoming increasingly important nowadays. Cross-dressing performance artist Malik Smith was on hand to help the model candidates with tips on how to move on the catwalk. The fashion industry is known to be LGBTQ-friendly, and the model application form and contract featured an explicit non-discrimination policy. Los Angeles is now widely recognized as the epicenter of the mass market fashion industry in the country. For further questions about the event contact Vera Bruce Ashley at 310 660-3593, ext. 3346, or email vbruce@elcamino.edu.
Jack Kan/ Union Candidate DaMoryei Lathan auditions in front of the fashion show model selection student committee in the Student Activities Center on Thursday, March 29.
Jack Kan/ Union Professor Vera Bruce Ashley, who teaches the Fashion 44 class, stands among the dress forms in her classroom.
Jack Kan/ Union Stage performer Malik Smith and fashion show student committee member Jorge Garcia give pointers to model candidates on how to walk on stage during the model call held in the Student Activities Center on Tuesday, April 3.