Rediscovering old family photos can be like a warp in time, taking you to the completely altered, and sometimes disturbing, mindset of the photographer, revealing what they believed was important at the time.
Such is the case with the new art exhibit by Valerie Pawlowski, who is working toward her master's degree in media communications at UB.
Her latest gallery showcases reproductions of old negatives her father captured in the Vietnam era. Some were taken in his time as a Marine in Vietnam, while others come from a leave in Las Vegas during that year, creating a paradox of tone. Thus, the title of the gallery, "Las Vegas, 1972."
"He had a job as a Marine in 1972," said Pawlowski. "He took a whole bunch of pictures while in training. It's a weird mix of military and vacation photos."
The gallery is located in the Prespa bar at 439 Delaware Ave., a middle ground between ritzy vendors and a patch of abandoned stores. The gallery makes up most of the bar's ornamentation.
The walls are painted a desolate black, and a solitary candle dimly illuminates each featured piece from the front. The smaller installments in the series are stretched across the back wall toward an abandoned fireplace area littered with barstools. Like many of the Vegas motels featured in the photographs, Prespa looks like a bar where one might go for some action.
The photographs tell an interesting story. Pawlowski's father seemed to enjoy capturing candid scenes - gaudy hotels with crowded parking lots, pools infested with vacationers, or soldiers lying on dusty cots beneath a tent.
The concept of war and tourist traps are often placed side-by-side. In this way, the artist creates a comparison between camouflaged tanks and flashy neon signs. The more prominent photographs have been doubly enlarged and segmented, allowing the viewer to look at each segment of the photograph individually.
In certain photos, soldiers were digitally placed in the picture, such as in the pool scene, creating a definitively stark contrast between work and leisure.
"Part of the idea is to draw parallels between 1972 and the present," said Pawlowski.
She reproduced and enlarged the negatives using Photoshop and a large self-purchased printer, a major example of how convenient it is to express oneself in this modern age inexpensively and effectively.
"It wouldn't have been financially feasible if I hadn't done it at home," she said.
Although it was interesting to examine a past era through the eyes of one soldier, Prespa's dim atmosphere made it difficult to appreciate the grainy, faded quality.
The bartender said that Pawlowski had meant for the photographs to be showcased in a smaller, less spread-out area. The series would have probably been served better in a well-lit coffee shop with vintage upholstery and those kitschy imitation brick-wall scenes. The tired bar scene does little for the whole 1972 theme.
Pawlowski's artistic dabblings are relatively well known in the greater Buffalo area. She is the voice of 103.3 The Edge in evenings, and her artwork has appeared in local art hot spots, including the CEPA Gallery and the late Stimulance. She also holds a bachelor's degree in media communications from Medaille College.
"Las Vegas, 1972" coincides with the political theme running throughout much of Pawlowski's artwork. Her website, www.atomicgoddess.com, features outspoken interactive flash media like "L E T F R E E D O M R I N G," an anti-war sound piece. Her talent for fiction writing also earned her the 2000 Just Buffalo Literary Center Writers Award.
"I wrote fiction as an undergrad, then kind of moved [on] as a means of expression," she said. "My roots are in photography and print-based media, but I try to explore creativity through every activity possible."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
