“Passing Time, San Niccolo” by Stacy Smith Evans; part of Multiple Exposures Gallery’s Progression
Daily: Progression at Multiple Exposures Gallery
It’s a project with a design so convoluted that few would dare attempt it twice within nine months. But the photographers of Multiple Exposures Gallery are game for another Progressions exhibit, in which 15 members contribute 45 images in sequence, thematically playing off the previous image with either a photograph they’ve already taken or with a new one. The new image may mirror the previous one’s subject matter, composition, or color, but there needs to be some visual or thematic linkage. As with last year’s version of Progressions, windows and chairs are a bit overused as transitional elements (this time around, I’d add clouds to the overused list, despite their loving portrayals throughout the exhibit). The intended connections usually become clear; only a couple of times was the link so obscure that I missed it. But the real test of images in the exhibit isn’t their connection to the preceding and following photographs, but whether they stand out in isolation. Fortunately, many in Progressions do. Notable images include Irina Lawton’s spindly playground structures set against a fire-red sky; Stacy Smith Evans’ gaggle of teenagers on a European street corner; Sandy LeBrun–Evans’ bracingly rough-hewn image of a cafe patron and a figure walking through a passageway in the background; Soomin Ham’s barely visible insect on a striated, translucent surface; Van Pulley’s portrayal of a sand dune that ranges in tone from sepia to inky black; and Alan Sislen’s image of a man alongside a rural road marked by zebra-like shadows, thanks to trees lining the roadway. With Progressions, come for the brainteaser, but prepare for some wide-eyed stops along the way. Progressions runs through July 28 at Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. multipleexposuresgallery.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson