SBCC Photography Exhibition Empowers the Subsequent Technology

Through the maze of halls of the SBCC east campus administration constructing, excited voices tumbled out of the workplace of the scholar newspaper, The Channels. It wasn’t the everyday buzz of a newsroom; on Wednesday afternoon, college students, college, and mates gathered for a sooner or later exhibition of The Becoming Experience: Student Photography Exhibition.

Photographed by SBCC Alum Lucia Kiel, the exhibition featured greater than 30 portraits of 11 SBCC college students, who had been nominated by their friends and mentors for “what they have all gone through, their strength, and their sense of purpose and joy,” mentioned Becky Bean, social employee and pupil program advisor with The Well.

The Well is the primary free-standing well being and psychological wellness heart of the 116 California group faculties, and it has confirmed to be a mannequin for preventative and holistic well being providers for different instructional establishments. Each semester, the middle hosts round 50 particular person programming occasions for college kids together with workshops, group counseling, and talent constructing teams. Bean mentioned, “We’re small but mighty.”

Bean has been coordinating programming at The Well because the founding of the middle seven years in the past. Last week’s occasion being the “first photography exhibit we’ve done around mental health and wellness,” she mentioned.

The present options two distinct components: moody black-and-white As I Am portraits and vibrant shade Becoming portraits. This exhibition is a part of an ongoing observe for Kiel, whose work in each business and tremendous artwork realms goals to empower these in entrance of the lens. 

With aspirations to turn out to be an actress, Kiel mentioned, “I had a horrible experience with a male headshot photographer.” That interplay launched her pictures profession in 2009, with the mission to “change how a person sees themselves, and hopefully helps them move forward with more self-love.”    

The As I Am portion of the work showcases the scholars’ weak facet; a stripped down set with dramatic lighting “in a weird pose where there’s little wrinkle, you know, that all of it’s beautiful,” mentioned Kiel. This is paired with an announcement from the scholar, describing why they picked the photographs they did. 

The Becoming portion of the work had been fanciful portraits of those college students embracing their imaginations and inside essences, urgent ahead into their future selves. Some of those portraits referenced iconography such because the fiery phoenix or mighty energy of the ocean, Kiel used her background in journal pictures to create otherworldly pictures that captured the spirit these college students are aiming to embody. 

Kiel describes the 2 halves of the undertaking as “bookends of shifting the perception of beauty.”

“I feel like she really captured who I am,” mentioned Blaze Osborne, a third-year pupil and host of weekly artwork remedy workshops at The Well.

The college students represented within the exhibition are leaders within the faculty’s pupil useful resource facilities starting from Student Health Services, The Well, Disability Services and Programs for Students, the Office of Student Life, Umoja, and the Veterans Support and Resource Center.

“Over the past couple of years, I’ve been trying to realize and accept that my struggles and my hardships have helped make me who I am today,” mentioned Osborne. For him, the As I Am portrait session was difficult, however rewarding. “I didn’t always love myself,” he mentioned, glad that Kiel was capable of seize “my realization of acceptance.” 

For Osborne, his Becoming portrait was a bit extra stripped down than his counterparts. Grasping a duplicate of They Both Die on the End by Adam Silvera, Osborne says that Silvera’s writing has made him love studying. “It’s helped me process my own struggles and my own trauma because I’ve been able to connect these books to my own life.”

“The whole book series just kind of helped me realize who I am. And so that’s why I wanted to bring that into my photo shoot,” mentioned Osborne.

“Working with current students, it was so special,” mentioned alum Kiel. “We’re so fortunate to have such an amazing community college and such a diverse student body.”

She mentioned that returning to the varsity she loves, and giving again to the present technology was an honor. “It’s very cool to go full circle.”