Sept. 4 reception to mark ‘After 9/11’ and ‘Secret War’ exhibits

Sept. 4 reception to mark ‘After 9/11’ and ‘Secret War’ exhibitsSeptember 02, 2003Anisha Joseph

Two new exhibits at the Light Work/Community Darkrooms galleries will give visitors the chance to experience the work of photographers Nathan Lyons and Michael Greenlar, with a free, public reception set for Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. in the Robert B. Menschel Media Center, 316 Waverly Ave. Lyons’ “After 9/11” and Greenlar’s “Remnants of a Secret War” will both be open through Oct. 15.

Images in Lyons’ “After 9/11” reflect the artist’s personal response to the Sept.11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Lyons, who is the founder and recently retired director of the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, N.Y. and former associate director and curator of photography at the George Eastman House, is a master of photographic sequencing. He utilizes the format of presenting pairs of photographs as diptychs and presents the great variety of ways that individuals responded to the cataclysmic event. A book signing for his third book, also titled “After 9/11”, will be held in conjunction with the reception.

Greenlar, a freelance editorial photographer whose work has appeared in various journals and magazines including Time and Fortune, has traveled to Laos five times to photograph the resilient people of the Hmong territory. From 1964-73, during the Vietnam War, the Hmong territory became one of the most-bombarded areas in the history of warfare – a series of events that has gone virtually unreported. For the past 25 years, the Hmong have forged unexploded bombs and shells into makeshift tools and have exemplified a resourcefulness and resiliency that has led to their survival in post-war Laos. According to Greenlar, the purpose of his “Remnants of a Secret War” photo essay is “to show the enduring spirit of the Hmong people and the long-term ramifications of war.”