The Sony Gallery for Photography : 1998-1999 review

1998-1999 Year in Review
Van-Leo Exhibit Opens Sony Gallerys Year JUNE 1, 1999 The Sony Gallerys 1998-1999 exhibitions began with a major joint presentation between the Sony Gallery and AUCs Rare Books and Special Collections Library of the works of portrait photographer Van-Leo. The native Armenian photographer is known for glamorous portraits of such well known figures as Omar Sherif and Taha Hussein, but the show included lesser-known faces as well. The opening night began with the Sony Gallery show and then moved to the Rare Books Library, where a second exhibition of Van-Leos photographs along with some personal belongings was on display and where the Van-Leo collection, which he donated to the university in April 1998, is now permanently housed. The show was presented under the patronage of AUC Trustee Mr. Moataz Al-Alfi. Contrasts was the theme of the November exhibition by Johanna Von Schledorn, a half-German half-Colombian artist currently living in Italy. She lived for a time in Egypt and found it to be a land where contrasts can be found everywhere: in its architecture, its smells, landscapes, tastes, sounds and people.you should let yourself go and fall into its magic. Her contrasts were found in scenes of daily life in Cairo, particularly Coptic Cairo, as well as in the Sinai. The show was opened by Colombian Ambassador to Egypt HE Jaime Giron Duarte. Indiana-born photographer Darryl Jones captured The Timelessness of the Moment in the gallerys December showing. Jones once reflected that film allows light to record a passing moment in time, and that moment opens up to eternity beyond time. If the viewer [is] in harmony with the moment, then he might transcend the subjective continuity of the mind, recognizing the primordial harmony of things. The moments he captured in this show included scenes of nature, faces of working people, and moments from religious places and services. The guest of honor opening night was Dr. Sayyed Hossein Nasr, professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University.
The current state of affairs in Gaza and the West Bank was the focus of a joint exhibition of the work of Randa Shaath and Thomas Hartwell in February, opened by HE Ambassador Mohammed Sobeih, Permanent Representative of Palestine to the League of Arab States. The two photographers spent six weeks in the area in the spring of 1998, aiming to examine the human side of the rapid development and change under the new Palestinian Authority. These photographs, they said, aspire to reflect the uniqueness of the Palestinian identity as well as the universal humanity of the struggle.	"The face is a human secret, and so it will remain as long as the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa charms art lovers."
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