Kennedy Museum to host epic photojournalism exhibit
By Susannah Elliott, Entertainment Editor
June 8, 2006 | 7:58 p.m.
Through July 30, the Kennedy Museum of Art is showcasing the work of celebrated photojournalist and Ohio University alumnus James Karales.
Karales, a native of Canton, Ohio, graduated from OU in 1955 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography, though he originally intended to study electrical engineering. His interest in photography led him to change career paths, and his talent for it is evident even in his early work. “The Greeks of Canton Ohio,” 1953, is one of the photo essays that adorn the Kennedy Museum walls. The son of Greek immigrants himself, Karales’ essay depicts Greek families and friends and their cultural influence throughout the community.
“Rendville, Ohio,” 1956, is another early essay that explores the nature of communities. Rendville is a small town north of Athens that flourished as a mining town in the late 1800s, but Karales’ photos show the economic demise of the community after its primary industry had failed. The poignant photos revealed Karales as an even more introspective photojournalist. It also foreshadowed his later work documenting the civil rights movement of the 1960s. One of the most memorable “Rendville” photos is of a small black child, seen from afar as the shadow of a church steeple swallows him whole, making him nearly invisible. Nailed to a tall wooden post and illuminating the corner of the photo is a bright advertisement that reads, “CITIZEN.”
Karales’ photos of the civil rights movement are perfect examples of the role photography found in the news magazine world in the post-World War II era. After finishing an internship with the great American photographer W. Eugene Smith, Karales became a staff photographer for Look Magazine, for which he was able to travel with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his civil rights tours. The photos of Dr. King, the Selma to Montgomery March and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee are some of the most moving and historically relevant of the exhibition.
The “Rendville, Ohio” photos and those of the civil rights movement are also part of an ongoing education gallery entitled “James Karales: Truth in Looking.” The gallery invites visitors to compare recreations of the type of darkroom in which Karales would have worked and a modern-day electronic darkroom. It also asks viewers to explore what makes images powerful and the importance of an image’s context.
Another historic Karales collection visiting the Kennedy Museum is “What Johnson Faces in South Vietnam,” one of several photo essays from Look. This collection depicts the events in the Vietnam War truthfully and respectfully. Karales placed himself in the line of fire to capture the soldiers and the Vietnamese people as realistically as possible, and the result is a very moving collection. The most representative photo may be of an American soldier standing at attention, chest out, chin up and holding the limp body of a Vietnamese child. The soldier’s jaw is jutted out, and he looks straight ahead, attempting to maintain his steely expression.
However, Karales doesn’t only capture sadness. His 1968-1969 essay, “Lower East Side (7th Street),” showed the economic depression many of the adult inhabitants were suffering, but also the pure joy of children’s playing in a kiddie pool amid garbage cans and graffiti. The collection of photos was never published in Look, but it revealed the entire spectrum of human emotions in a place where emotions are more numerous than material possessions.
Also accompanying “James Karales: Photojournalist” until July 30 is a small exhibition of photos taken by high school students from Logan, Ohio. “Haydenville: A Town Forgotten” displays the work of teenagers in the Logan High School photography class who visited Haydenville, Ohio. The photos echo Karales’ “Rendville” collection, right down to a similar photo showing a speed limit sign in the foreground. The students were able to reveal a history that seemed to parallel Rendville’s in their photos of the town’s industry and architecture.
The Kennedy Museum of Art, located in Lin Hall at The Ridges, welcomes visitors from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; noon to 8 p.m. Thursday; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The museum is closed on Mondays and holidays.
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