Arts, Etc.Fine Art

Hass is ‘Finding Color’ in unusual places

Photographer Kevin Hass' work, "Finding Color," is on display in the Irene Carlson Gallery. A reception for Hass was held Feb. 13 and was attended by students, faculty and community members. Hass offers glimpses of Americana in the photographic work that he considers to be an opportunity for personal adventure. / photo by Bailey Porter
Photographer Kevin Hass’ work, “Finding Color,” is on display in the Irene Carlson Gallery. A reception for Hass was held Feb. 13 and was attended by students, faculty and community members. Hass offers glimpses of Americana in the photographic work that he considers to be an opportunity for personal adventure. / photo by Bailey Porter

by Desiree Quintero
Staff Writer

After seeing Kevin Hass’ photographs at an art show, Gary Colby, professor of photography, decided it was time for the University of La Verne to start “Fnding Color.”

The lights in the stairwell of the Irene Carlson Gallery of Photography are dimmed. There are only select beams and an eerie feeling fills the air.

Once viewers pass the words “Kevin Hass: Finding Color,” the eeriness melts away. The show is a superb display of light and color.

“It is a very rich show, and the colors alone can affect you emotionally,” Colby said.

Throughout the entire exhibit, Hass’ work finds vibrant color in the most unlikely of places. Haas takes normal day-to-day scenes that are often overlooked and turns them into works of art.

In one of the photographs, a man is leaning against his car in Central Havana, Cuba. The photograph is very rich in color, demonstrating the simple reality of a man taking in a little bit of sun as he waits. The photograph is simple, yet complex in the way that the colors shine through and jump out at the audience. It is captivating, and it feels as if it is real life as opposed to simply a photograph.

Hass photographed the side angle of a building where there stands a clothesline, and the hanging clothes are seen blowing in the wind. Several people hang their clothes out on the line to dry, but not many would photograph it and make art out of such an action.

“I like to find forgotten bits and pieces of Americana, even scenes close to home that are not singled out as known areas of exceptional significance, but that make interesting photographs. Something as simple as an ordinary street corner may yield a photograph of great beauty, given expressive lighting conditions, good composition and a personal excitement about the act of capturing a unique scene of film to share with others,” Hass said in a press release.

“Hass’ work is both unique and elegant. It is exposed on the paper in such a way that it is rather smooth and unusual,” Colby said.

“Printing my own work allows me to apply my own rendition of color and exposure to a print. Even a slight difference in the warm, neutral or cool appearance of a print can change the mood of the image significantly,” Hass wrote.

Hass’ photographs make minor details into major ones and vise versa. Darkening certain portions of the photographs allows a whole new light, giving new perspective to certain events. The way the photographs are exposed is very innovative.

Hanging clothes, leaning against a car, and buildings, are no longer taken at face value, but are now works of art.

Hass lives in Los Angeles and has shown his work the Norris Film Gallery in Palos Verdes, the 24th Street Gallery in Los Angeles and the Millard Sheets Gallery at the Fairplex in Los Angeles County.

The photography exhibit will be on display until today.

Desiree Quintero
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Bailey Porter, LV Life Editor
Bailey Porter
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