Internationally Renowned Artists On Display At CCC

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Two photographers/artists who have had their work displayed internationally are currently being featured in the Marlin Gallery at Camden County College, the college said Friday morning.

Ron Tarver and Julia Blaukopf will discuss their work, methodologies and careers in the arts during a presentation on Thursday, Sept. 20, 6 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission and admission is free.

A closing reception will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served and admission is free. The exhibition is also open Monday through Thursday from noon to 5 p.m., now through Sept. 27.

Tarver is a nationally and internationally known photographer, author, and fine artist. His work has been featured in National Geographic, Time, Life, Sports Illustrated, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. His fine art photography has been exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

He is co-author of the book We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans, published by Harper Collins, which was accompanied by a traveling exhibition that debuted at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. He currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA. “An Overdue Conversation with My Father” is currently on display in the Marlin Gallery.

“This work involves the appropriation of photographs my father, Richard Tarver, produced in the 1940s and 50s to construct contemporary images that comment on the pervasive legacy of social and racial strife in this country,” Tarver said. “The more than 300 photographs and over 1000 black and white negatives he made of the African American residents in the small Oklahoma town of Fort Gibson represent a time when Jim Crow laws were still in place. While those laws have since been abolished, their legacy lives on. These reimagined images tie together a troublesome past with an equally troublesome present.”

Blaukopf is a photographer, artist and designer whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her photographs have been exhibited internationally in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark; and nationally in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Portland, Oregon.

“I create socially concerned work and focus on visual storytelling through photographs, mixed media works, and large-scale installations,” Blaukopf said. “Blurring the lines between fine art and documentary, my focus is on emblems that compose the everyday, i.e., workers, farmers, and families. I have photographed for a women’s empowerment organization in Ghana, a reforestation project in Kenya, and collaborated with artists and organizations alike in Lithuania, Sri Lanka, and the United States. Most recently I documented a collective of indigenous women artisans in Panama called Bonöre. My photographs and installation works are created to raise awareness and foster a mutual understanding between communities on an international level. I implement this into a social arts practice by working as a creative partner with non-profits, ethically-minded businesses, media outlets, and educational institutions.”

Image via Shutterstock