PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
Rachel Levine, a junior at Swampscott High School, begins the process of hanging work for the Thick Skin Digital Photography exhibition.
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
SWAMPSCOTT — The Class of 1965 Rotunda Gallery at the high school is almost ready for its inaugural show, featuring the work of digital photography students.
The Thick Skin Digital Photography exhibition is comprised of photographs of a tree taken by students.
Thomas O’Keefe, 15, a sophomore, said he took the digital photography class to learn how to take better pictures. He didn’t realize his work would be shown in a gallery.
His work features a tree outside his house that he shot 10 times a day, at different angles and times. The photo, “Tree of Darkness,” is black and white.
“Well, personally I was never really a good photographer, but I liked taking pictures and I wanted to learn,” O’Keefe said.
Rachel Levine, 17, a junior, called her piece “Blue Dawn.” She photographed the tree outside the parking lot of the school every morning and afternoon. She became interested in the craft because her grandfather and uncle are photographers. She’s proud to have her artwork featured, but found it difficult to choose which photograph to display.
“I’m happy that I’m one of the first people that are hung in the gallery,” Levine said.
Media Arts teacher Joseph Douillette said the assignment was to find a tree and to photograph it at different times for 10 consecutive days.
“The idea is to struggle with an object in nature,” Douillette said.
People and trees have something in common, since each exist for a long time and see much, he said.
“We have to develop a bit of a thick skin,” Douillette said.
The idea for a gallery was born when the Swampscott High School Class of 1965 approached art teacher Anita Balliro about what they could donate to the school, Douillette said.
Balliro told them the school needed a gallery. The Rotunda, the central point for the high school Arts Wing, was chosen as the space to feature artwork.
The gallery cost more than $3,000. The Class of ‘65 donated $2,400 and some of the funds from a $10,000 Swampscott Education Foundation grant was used for the balance. The grant had been awarded to Balliro and Douillette for the purchase of 12 Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras, lenses and supplies.
Donations and funds helped with the installation of lights and a gallery hanging system. The Rotunda was also repainted.
Photo Club advisor Bernard Kravitz and his wife donated an expensive Canon printer and print heads. Fast Frames of Swampscott provided framing supplies.
The foundation also assisted with the recently created Digital Photography program, by supporting the purchase of a dozen Macintosh towers, the accompanying equipment to a desktop computer that contains most of the components of a computer, which were loaded with the Adobe Creative Suite. The towers were purchased with $2,500 in foundation grant money and the software was installed for $2,400 from the school’s technology budget.
Thick Skin is the first exhibition from students in the photography class. Douillette, one of the teachers for the class and a new hire to develop the program, said students worked with photo manipulation, using Adobe Photoshop.
The free show will be on display from June 6 to 23, with gallery hours open from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. An opening reception and gallery dedication is scheduled for June 7 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley
