Nathan McRee in National Exhibition

Mississippi State University Department of Art Alumni, Nathan McRee recently had his fine art photography displayed at Greg Moon Art Gallery in Taos, New Mexico. His work was accepted into the national photographic competition AFTER DARK II. The image Lights Across the Lake was selected to be a part of the exhibition that ran from 7/6/2013 - 7/27/2013.

This is part a series that Nathan started over a year ago and completed in his thesis exhibition last spring. “One element I find so interesting in the shots is the fact the ghost like figure is Nathan.” State Professor Marita Gootee. “The exposures are very long and capture so many of the mysteries of the nightscapes.” When asked about Nathan’s future, Professor Gootee said with a smile “If this is how he is starting off as an fine art photographer, he should do very well.”

McRee’s photographs are focused on capturing the landscape at night with the inclusion of a silhouetted figure to represent the presence of the unknown. His process is quite unique for making work in the digital age, relying on in-camera techniques instead of the use of Photoshop to create a silhouetted figure that seems to haunt the landscape. “It is refreshing to see a young photographer experimenting with a digital camera in the way an analogue photographer would do. The fact that Nathan created the figure to exist in front of the camera for a brief moment in time adds a level of expression to the work that otherwise would not be there if it were created in Photoshop”, said Assistant Professor Dominic Lippillo.

The Jurors were Stephanie Grilli and Tatiana Lomahaftewa.  Stephanie Grilli is an independent art historian, curator, and writer who draws upon a deep understanding of the creative process to provide perceptive essays and profiles for artists, art galleries and museums, and collectors. Stephanie has covered such pinnacle artists as Wayne Thiebaud, Charles Reid, and Robert Daughters. Stephanie recently co-curated Taos Contemporary, an invitational of 56 artists, at the Center for Visual Art in Denver.

Tatiana Lomahaftewa is entrusted with the care and curation of the Institute of American Indian Arts collection housed at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in downtown Santa Fe. The collection includes such luminaries of the native arts as T.C. Cannon, Earl Biss, Tony Abeyta, and Kevin Red Star. One of her latest projects involved 50/50: Fifty Artists, Fifty Years, a comprehensive survey of the art and artists who have made the IAIA an internationally known institution. Tatiana has also authored “Voices from the Mount: Contemporary Choctaw” and co-authored “Lifting the Veil: New Mexico and the Tri-Cultural Myth”.

Nathan received his BFA with a concentration in photography in 2013.