Contact: Kay Fike Jones
A Mississippi State University faculty member has a photograph accepted into a Texas art exhibition.
Marita Gootee, associate professor of art, will exhibit a small, tintype photograph, "Adjustments," Sept. 7-Oct. 18 at the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram, Texas. The photograph is part of COUNTERPOINT: The 29th Annual Printmaking, Drawing and Photography Exhibition sponsored by the foundation.
Gootee explained that tintypes, popular in the 1800s, were actually the first Polaroids. The original process involved coating a black-lacquered tin plate with collodion--a highly flammable substance--sensitizing it with silver nitrate, exposing, then developing and fixing the plate. Compared to other types of photography at the time, tintypes could produce a likeness in a matter of minutes.
"My method involves using aluminum, glossy black polyurethane and Silverprint liquid emulsion," said Gootee. "These images were created by the use of 35 millimeter slides projected onto the prepared plate through the use of an enlarger in the darkroom, a very labor-intensive project by modern standards."
A reception and awards ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 7, 3-5 p.m., at the foundation. For more information, contact the Department of Art at (601) 325-6900.