The PhotoMidwest Festival 2024 includes In Search of Awe, an exhibition on display at the Overture Playhouse Gallery, 201 State Street, now through November 17, 2024. Photos can also be viewed at the PhotoMidwest online virtual gallery.
Ask someone to define "Awesome" and their description will undoubtedly include adjectives such as "excellent," "great," or maybe even "cool." But things truly capable of invoking a sense of awe–of being "awe-inspiring"– possess a unique additional quality; a distinctiveness that makes them stand out from the ordinary. They have the power to evoke emotional or visceral reactions. Encountering something truly "awesome" can change the impression of "self" in the viewer, causing them to pause, if even for a moment, to reflect on their relationship with it, with the world, with their community or even with their own humanity. One neuroscientist described such experiences as "causing little earthquakes in the mind."
Opportunities to create awe-inspiring photography abound, transcending the boundaries of genre and categorization. Landscape, portraiture, nature, wildlife, fine art, still life, street, documentary, architecture, abstract, conceptual, and all other genres of photography offer ample fertile ground for success when setting out "In Search of Awe." And while "Awe" cna be elusive, we've all succeeded in telling a photographic story in such a way that it does shake things up enough to inspire a sense of awe among viewers. We've all created awe–inpiring images. With this exhibit we wish to highlight the awe-inspiring photography created by members of PhotoMidwest, celebrating the successes achieved in their search for "Awe."
A reception for In Search of Awe will be held in the Overture Playhouse Gallery on October 3, 2024 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. A complete list of PhotoMidwest Festival 2024, and more formation about PhotoMidwest, can be found at photomidwest.org/biennial-2024
Image: "Ore Boat and Pelicans," Michael R. Anderson
