Cassidy Diaz
Staff Writer
The Ground Floor Gallery is showing “Alike in Our Differences,” highlighting various genres of photography in the work of 11 photography students.
The photographers held an opening reception on Nov. 25 in the Gallery.
Artists featured are photography majors Aaliyah Alamillo, Ronald Banks, Mia Byington, Emily Casillas, Antonio Ceniceros, Liberty Belle Garcia, Jesse Juarez, Amore Mason, Joseph Nocero, Vincente Rodriguez and Kyla Stubbs.
Visiting Professor of Photography Fred Brashear said such gallery exhibitions prepare students for their future work and build their confidence and professional skills.
He enjoyed seeing the students’ grow in the process.
“Being able to see this exhibition to see how things turned out. It’s amazing,” he said.
Nocero, a junior photography major, showcased two of his photographs that both pictures the natural world and scenery.
One titled “Water in Nature” showed a water stream from a low angle leading to scenery of trees that surround the photo.
“The calmness of the natural world compared to city life with people – there’s a big difference,” Nocero said. “There’s a lot of streams of water and a lot of trees to take away creativity in nature.”
“I have a passion about being able to travel to different places in the future, photograph different things, let it be landscape, nature, animals, even cities and architecture,” Nocero added
“I really got into self portraits,” Garcia said of her self portrait for which she explored lighting and the vibrant oranges.
“I just started taking photos of myself and I realized that I loved putting a character in front of the camera,” Garcia said. “This piece is also different because I didn’t have a character … It has shown my journey of getting out of my comfort zone.”
Earlier in her photo journey, Garcia focused on sports photography, then moved to portraits and finally self portraits, she said.
“My main purpose is just to capture emotion through the photo,” Garcia said. “I think that humans are really emotional, but we shouldn’t be scared of it, it’s a powerful tool that we have. We get to feel for each other, be empathetic to one another. We can also be angry together, I just love capturing that whether in sports or street photography.”
Yesenia Rodriguez, who came to support her daughter, Garcia, appreciated the photos’ emotional honesty.
“It’s interesting…They’re all different in being bold and peaceful,” Rodriguez said. “She’s grown a lot just from her work and has become a mature grown woman, it’s beautiful to see.”
The exhibition is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday until Jan. 4. The Ground Floor Gallery is in Miller Hall on campus.
Cassidy Diaz can be reached at cassidy.diazgomez@laverne.edu.
Cassidy Diaz is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print and online journalism. She is also news editor for the Campus Times, and previously served as an assistant editor and a staff writer.
Bajot Rathor is a senior organizational management major with a concentration in leadership and management, along with minors in photography and American law. She is a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine.
