A Movable Feast

Photo exhibit enlivens Dining Hall and the holidays

by Michelle Simmons

December 7, 2011

“The photos are all so colorful and beautiful, and we knew right away how great they would look in the caf,” says photo-exhibit coordinator Anne Feldman ’12 (left). One of those images, featured here, is by Sarah Brown-Campello ’12 (right).

In the midst of the end-of-semester rush, Dickinson’s annual holiday buffet in the Dining Hall comes as a welcome respite. This year, as students share their winter-break plans over heaping plates of cheese blintzes, roast beef and mashed potatoes with chive cream, they’ll also be feasting their eyes on some new photos made by their fellow students while studying abroad.

From a stark black-and-white image of an Australian aborigine performing on the didgeridoo to the rich, red vestments of a celebrant in the Feast of St. Anne in Florence, Italy, the 14 photos on display in the Dining Hall represent the pageantry and beauty of the world’s religions.

“We wanted to ensure that the photos were religiously and geographically diverse,” says political-science major Anne Feldman ’12, events and programming staff assistant in the Office of Religious Life. “I come from an interfaith background, so religion is really interesting to me. It’s not just a religious identity but a cultural one.”

Feldman conceived the idea and did all the organizing, says Mira Hewlett, director of religious life and community services. This included coordinating the exhibit with the Center for Global Education and Engagement, which sponsors an annual photo competition. Each image is accompanied by a caption written by the student photographer describing the context—religious, historical or cultural.

Sarah Brown-Campello ’12 made two of those 14 photos: one of the aboriginal young man while she was studying abroad in Sydney, Australia, and another featuring an Argentinian synagogue she visited during a 2009-10 Jewish-migration Mosaic. She hopes to return to Australia after graduation. “It’s the most diverse place I’ve ever been,” says the religious-studies major.

The exhibit also will be on display in the HUB lobby during winter break. “The photos are amazing,” says Hewlett. “I was blown away by some of the unique [perspectives].”

View the 14 photos chosen by the Office of Religious Life and Community Services.