Power of Absence

Yesterday I visited the opening reception of “Vanishing Points” photography exhibit by Jason Eskenazi at the Reilly Gallery of Providence College. The collection featured photographs Jason took in October 2001 right after his return from Russia with a sweeping-lens Horizon camera at Ground Zero. The photographs were printed on long rolls of paper and presented in a powerfully simple way with no mounts, mats, or frames; just attached to the wall as thin paper. The wide format of the Horizon captured a breadth of the crowd in an unusual pose: all looking up! They were looking at the absence of the Twin Towers, as if their collective gaze might make them materialize again. But, in reality they were looking in disbelief that the towers were actually missing, that they could see the sky that used to be on the “other side” of the towers.

I had a chance to chat with Jason a while and learned that he would be spending about one year in Turkey starting on October 1. He is working on a new project the details of which we did not get a chance to explore. I gave him my e-mail address and purchased one of his books available there from his Russia project and returned home. A very satisfying exhibit, I highly recommend it.

Below are some of the frames on display, they should give you an idea about the nature of the exhibit. All photographs by Jason Eskenazi, used with permission.