The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

UA photographers framed at Folk Hall

Written by: Alexandra Long

Imagine walking into a spacious gallery filled with impressive and creative photographs from all over the world. These photographs can’t be found at the Akron Art Museum; rather, you can see them in the student gallery of The University of Akron’s own Folk Hall.

These photographs weren’t taken by professionals, or by the faculty of Folk Hall. They were taken by members of the Folk Photography Association, a brand new UA student organization.

The Folk Photography Association is open to the entire UA community. Photography majors, photography minors, and just about anybody who loves photography are all encouraged to join.

Story continues below advertisement

“A small group of us saw that the dynamics among the photographers at Folk Hall was really lacking, so we wanted to do something to get people excited about photography, and share their passion and interest with others,” said the president of the FPA, Marissa McClellan.

The FPA was formed in order to gather a community of photographers and to, in the words of treasurer Sam Solan, “get our names and work out to the public.”

“It can get kind of stressful in class, with teachers critiquing your work,” Solan said. “What we try to do here is to create lectures and talk about our
photography.”

Besides displaying photographs in the student gallery, the FPA also holds group photography exhibitions, fundraisers, museum visits and guest lectures.

The lectures are one of the most important aspects of the FPA. Marissa hopes that holding lectures will help bring new ideas to the photographers, since many subjects are being repeatedly photographed.

“It will also give us an idea about how important it is to work hard to be a photographer,” Marissa said.

The FPA hopes to invite a handful of graduate students from the Cranbrook Academy of Art to speak about their work and about how they have grown artistically.

The FPA is currently holding an exhibition in the Folk Hall student gallery, which is located right across from the Emily Davis Gallery. The exhibit features a handful of photographs taken by current members of the Folk Photography Association. These photographs comprise many different compositions, from photographs of daily life to close-ups of animals, and even to expansive scenery.

Some of the photos were taken here in Ohio; others were taken in places as distant as Makino and Hirakata, Japan. With the many diverse shooting locations, the gallery offers a wide variety of creative photographs.

The FPA is on OrgSync and also on Facebook, under “Folk Photography Association,” where you can find posts about upcoming events and meetings.

Leave a Comment
Donate to The Buchtelite
$250
$500
Contributed
Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of The University of Akron. Your contribution will allow us to keep printing our magazine edition, purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Buchtelite
$250
$500
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

All comments that are well-informed, civil and relevant to the story are welcome. To leave a comment, please provide your name and email address. The Editorial Board reserves to right to remove any comment that is submitted under false pretenses or includes personal attacks, libel, hate speech, profanity, spam or inaccurate/misleading information. All comments are screened and are generally approved unless they are found to be found in violation of these standards. Readers who notice comments that appear to violate these standards are encouraged to contact the Online Editor at [email protected].
All The Buchtelite Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *