Eastfield College’s Gallery 219 to present Ben Espey: Courts

by PegNews wire

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Espey currently teaches photography at Eastfield College and Tarrant County College.

Gallery 219 at Eastfield College presents Ben Espey: "Courts" from January 19 – February 12. A reception and on-site lecture will both be held Friday, February 5 at 6 p.m.

The invention of camera phones and the ease of uploading images made on such devices to sites like Flickr and Facebook has continued to fill our world with an endless access to the visual. Of course taking a picture and making a photograph – at least a compelling one – are two different things. Such compelling imagery can be found in the work of Ben Espey. Espey photographs forgotten, empty, and sometimes dilapidated basketball courts which a passerby might see as mundane and inconsequential. However, by photographing these objects and their surroundings, Espey is calling attention to that which we have made insignificant. Espey explains that our society has traded the communal practice of engaging in outdoor recreation for sitting in front of our televisions, computers and video games – hence the empty and dilapidated courts. Mundane or not, the courts – or rather the way in which they are photographed – present an eerie intimacy drawing us into the photographers view – one that is perhaps filled with longing for the past or a resurrection to our previous technology free world. Unsettling to look at, Ben Espey’s photographs remind us of what is left behind in the face of progress.

Espey holds a Bachelor of Science in Photography from Sam Houston State University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas. He currently teaches photography at Eastfield College and Tarrant County College.

Source: Eastfield College

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