Pierce Media Arts Department students who participated in a master class taught by Mikiko Hara last fall at the Getty Center will show their work in an exhibition opening Feb. 6 at the JFLA Auditorium in Los Angeles.
“After Mikiko Hara: Floating in the Moment” features work by Calvin Alagot, Lynn Levitt, Monica Salazar and Mohammad Djauhari, who took the master class to learn Hara’s artistic philosophy and style.
“After meeting Mikiko Hara and seeing her photographs, I wanted to go out and shoot the city and its people,” said Alagot, who has one piece in the exhibition. “I started shooting with film for this project and realized how different life was before digital.”
Djauhari added, “Shooting on film has always been a passion for me. To be able to capture the chaos of life’s fleeting moments with such beauty and vibrancy, masterfully, when you’re allowed between eight to 36 frames, is the drive of all film photographers. Mikiko Hara is one of the photographers that’s able to capture those moments in a world now saturated with digital photos. The subjects in her images are unguarded so there is truth within them and her work inspires me to capture those same senses within my images.”
For Levitt, who has four photographs in the show, Hara helped her get motivated.
“She was my jumpstart,” Levitt said. “Her persistency and tenacity in finding her way to make a statement about what she perceives through the lens of a camera is an inspiration. I would like to personally thank her.”
Salazar said Hara’s class helped changed way she viewed photography.
“I love how Mikiko Hara’s photographs effortlessly describes complex feelings and a story all in one frame,” Salazar said. “While shooting, I aim to find that silent connection with my subjects. It took a couple tries. I then soon realized that all it took was not trying so hard to make it look perfect.
“After Mikiko Hara: Floating in the Moment” runs Feb. 6 through March 6 at JFLA Auditorium, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., #100, Los Angeles. Exhibition hours are noon-7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon-4 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, noon-4:30 p.m. Feb. 14 and 28. An opening reception will be 7-9 p.m. Feb. 6. For more information, visit www.jflalc.org.