Plunkett Gallery hosts new exhibit ‘Emerging Forms’

The Plunkett Gallery in Hardman Hall at Mercer University will have its current exhibit called “Emerging Forms” up until Friday, March 23.

The work in the exhibit was created by still life photographer Whitney Ott who graduated from Mercer University in 2008 as an English literature major with a photography minor.

“I approach the subtle beauty and forms of my subjects using methods that are Minimalistic, yet allow the objects to be seen and appreciated in unexpected ways,” Ott said in her statement in the gallery.

She said in her statement that this series was inspired by the “darkness and subtleties of 17th Century Dutch painters” and the food and floral photography of Irving Penn, a famous American photographer.

“The photographs in this collection represent my perception of both ends of the light and dark spectrum,” she said in her statement.

Craig Coleman, professor of art at Mercer, said that the exhibit is filled with beautifully lit still lifes that are composed well.

“The lighting is done in such a way that the photographs look more like paintings from the history of art,” Coleman said.

He said students should come to the exhibit to see the work of a Mercer alumni.

“They should come to see what an (alumni) from Mercer University has done … with the knowledge of photography they learned here and how they used that to build a career in photography,” Coleman said.

He said that students should look for the creativity that is behind each image and that a lot of the images are of food.

“If they come and look at the show, they’ll get hungry,” Coleman said with a laugh.