Anabel Martinez
Managing Editor
The University of La Verne’s Ground Floor Gallery in Miller Hall opened its new student photography exhibition, “Humanifestation” with a welcoming reception on Tuesday. “Humanifestation” captures nature shot using a black and white film on a 4×5 camera. The exhibition was curated by senior criminology major Drake Ingram.
Featured artists include Ingram, senior photography major Nareg Agopian, senior photography major Darcelle Jones-Wesley, senior photography major Casi Martinez, senior photography major Natalie Medrano, junior journalism major Abelina Nuñez and junior digital media major Amanda Torres.
“When it comes to the history of landscape photography, it basically has always been a part of the narrative of humans not appreciating the natural world, and destroying through industrialization, deforestation and so on,” Ingram, who curated the show, said.
Ingram said this narrative of human destruction in nature often portrayed in landscape photography inspired the exhibition’s name, which combines human infestation and manifestation.
Ingram’s photograph “Outlooking” was taken on the third floor of the Ludwick Center near Bonita Avenue with snow-covered mountains peeking out through suburban neighborhood streets.
After welcoming the gallery’s guests, Ingram walked the audience through each photograph to the 40 visitors.
Martinez’s photograph, titled “Restless Waters,” captures the softness of an otherwise rapid river flow at San Dimas Canyon near the reservoir. Using long exposure, she made the waves of water look more like a cloud of hazy fog.
“It’s also the exposure that causes the water to not be frozen in place but have more of a softer look where it blends together, and it looks kind of misty,” Martinez said. “I think you can feel a spooky quality.”
Like Martinez, Medrano said she knew she wanted to capture water movement and found her own inspirations from the San Dimas Canyon reservoir for her photograph “Dreamhaze.”
“Casi and I spent all day shooting our pictures, and we couldn’t connect with anything,” Medrano said. “We wanted to for sure get water pictures. And then we found it, and we kind of knew that that was the picture.”
Medrano’s “Dreamhaze” centers on a stream of water interrupted by integrated rocks and a border of bare trees rounding over the water.
“I love my piece,” Medrano said. “I think it turned out really well, but I think, in a general sense, everyone had fun with this show and everyone loved their pictures.”
Jones-Wesley said she took a trip to Joshua Tree with the intent of capturing the negative imprint of humans in the desert. There, she was able to shoot her photograph, “Joshua Tree I,” which displays almost bare trees blending with telephone poles and wires in the background.
“I found a spot that I thought intensified the impact of society with the installation of telephone poles with things that are in their original habitat,” Jones-Wesley said. “Even with the tire impression on the (dirt) road, I was trying to show the appraisal on the typical natural habitat.”
Anabel Martinez can be reached at anabel.martinez2@laverne.edu.
Anabel Martinez is a senior digital media major with a concentration in film and television, and a journalism minor. She serves as the managing editor overseeing all of the Campus Times sections and was previously editor-in-chief in Spring 2022.
Kim Toth, a junior photography major, is photography editor for the Campus Times and a staff photographer for La Verne Magazine. Her work can be found in Instagram at @kim_t_photos and @kimberlytothphotos.
