Garden City,  NY - January 25, 2016 - The Adelphi University Exhibitions Program is proud to present the curatorial debut of Hannah Allen Smith, assistant professor of photography and digital media, with her captivating exhibit Looking Through: Photography, Race & Identity that features photographers Shikeith, Gareth Smit & Stacey Tyrell. Looking Through: Photography, Race & Identity is a showcase of work from three contemporary photographers whose images consider ideas of race and representation. This exhibition will be on view in the Ruth S. Harley University Center Gallery, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY, until Sunday, March 6, 2016. A panel discussion with the artists and curator will be held on Tuesday, February 2, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in the Ruth S. Harley University Center Room 211/212. A reception will be held afterward from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. The public is welcome.

In Allen’s curatorial statement she mentions, “We are at a pivotal moment in this country in regard to race relations. Some are calling this juncture in history the second Civil Rights Movement. Indeed, there is great momentum behind #blacklivesmatter and #sayhername. Thanks to the internet and the accessibility of cameras, events are being documented, publicized, and historicized almost simultaneously. Even as I write this, hundreds of new protest images are being uploaded to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. These images excite, inspire, and engage. They give faces to words and offer the movement a visual narrative.”

“The artists included in the exhibition present a complex vision of blackness. They make clear that black lives matter by revealing the complexity of the lives of individual black men and women. Each photographer has developed a different approach to image making. Gareth Smit, who works from a documentary tradition, has been photographing Eric Garner’s community in the wake of his 2014 death when officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in an unexpected choke hold. Stacey Tyrell creates studio-based self portraits in which she transforms herself from a black woman into her white Scottish ancestors. Tyrell’s work challenges our assumptions about how race and class inform our perception of the family portrait. Finally, Shikeith’s work offers a new vision of black masculinity. In his video #blackmendream, Shikeith interviews several young black men who speak freely about their fears, dreams and aspirations. Each man answers questions with his back turned toward the camera; thus, audience members are forced to register his words before they register his image.”

This exhibition Looking Through: Photography, Race, and Identity reveals how photographers working today contribute to social and political movements.

There will be a Student Exhibition and Response to the featuring works by students that are a reaction to the panel discussion and the Photography, Identity & Race exhibition. This installation will be on view from Monday, February 22 through Friday, May 20, 2016, located on the second floor atrium of the Ruth S. Harley University Center. A reception will be held on Tuesday, February 23, from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome.

To view glimpses of the works online, please visit online. The Ruth S. Harley University Center Gallery is open Monday through Friday, from 12:00 to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. Find us on social media: Facebook and Twitter/Instagram.

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Adelphi University is a nationally ranked, doctoral research university offering exceptional liberal arts and sciences programs and professional training with particular strength in its Core Four—AU Arts and Humanities, AU STEM and Social Sciences, AU Professions, and AU Health and Wellness.

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