Students’ Work

Sabrina Chang Interiority, 2025 Digital Inkjet Print on Film, ARTS241 - Identity, Community and Photography

Interiority

This series features eight people in their rooms. Each room is uniquely theirs, and through these photographs, Sabrina aims to reflect the unique lifestyle, interests, and personality of each individual. A room, being a private space, allowed her to capture moments of intimacy.

To highlight this intimacy, Sabrina printed the photos on film and constructed an apartment-like building. This force viewers to look inside the windows to admire the pictures, further reinforcing the privacy of one's room. This design ties back to the title, compelling the audience to peer through the window to view the interior of each person's room.

Nia Gayle Dear Hair, 2023 Digital Inkjet Print, ART133 - Introduction to Digital Photography

You can read Gayle’s stories, published by MPR, by following this link.

Dear Hair

Gayle's photo series, "Dear Hair," explores the journey many African American women take when transitioning to their natural hair. Inspired by her mother, who taught her to love and care for her own hair, Gayle’s work addresses the complex history and social dynamics surrounding Black hair. She focuses on the term "good hair"—a concept within the Black community that often favors Eurocentric hair types. Gayle says, this term reflects deep-seated issues of colorism and texturism passed down through generations. Ultimately, "Dear Hair" is a project that confronts societal standards and celebrates the reclamation of one's natural identity.

Ilan Carter Belonging, 2025, Black and White Darkroom Print and Cyanotype, ARTS241 - Identity, Community and Photography

Belonging

Belonging explores themes of family, heritage, and memory through framed double-exposure darkroom prints from Ilan’s father’s negatives. These layered and ethereal images combine different moments, reflecting a personal journey from New Jersey to Idaho. The cyanotype print on a cloth is the central element. The map is of New Jersey where Ilan’s grandmother first landed in the USA, there are notes about her grandma on the map. This Map connects the personal narratives in the photographs. The use of grandmother’s cloth adds another layer of family intimacy, while the cyanotype process symbolize memories are chemically and physically imprinted over time.

Rachel Bingham All Around the Court, 2025 Digital Inkjet Print, ARTS139 - Beginning Photography

All Around the Court

Rachel layered three photographs with Photoshop. To enhance the energetic, chaotic feel of the game, she added extra basketballs. This stylistic choice creates a nostalgic, film-like aesthetic that honors the long history of Carleton basketball. The project, inspired by a historic win against a top-ranked team, serves as both a technical exercise and a tribute to the legacy of the sport.

This is a reinterpretation of Hector Vivas's "Layers of the Game" series. Inspired by Vivas's technique of combining multiple photos from the same angle to capture the overall flow of a games, a sport Vivas did not include in his original collection.

Li Lee In a Foreign Land - 他乡, 2025 Mixed Media, ARTS241 - Identity, Community and Photography

In a Foreign Land

In this series, Lee documents the experiences of five international students, like him, were surprised by Northfield’s small-town environment. The project explores themes of homesickness and the difficult transition of adapting to a new place.

To create the work, Lee interviewed students about what they miss most, then photographed them. He digitally overlaid their portraits onto images of their hometowns and favorite places. The installation features a program that allows the artwork to rotate, starting with the students' origins and ending with the theme "In a Foreign Land." Through this, Lee connects with others and achieve a sense of belonging.