Page 6-Thursday, March 22, 1979-The Michigan Daily
$y Sean O'Casey
March 21 24.1979
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RED
ROSES
FOR
ME
Photographs lend magic to the mundane
By PETER WALLACH
In his current exhibition at the Blixt
Gallery, photographer David Turnley
celebrates life. The show, to run
through March 31, is the first for the 23-
year-old Turnley, a University
graduate. In it, he shows off his per-
sonalized, emotional brand of
photojournalism, giving us his insight-
ful view of the commonplace.
Many of the photographs in the show
are of his native Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Some of these are part of his first major
project, McClellan Street,
photographed in collaboration with his'
twin brother, Peter. McClellan Street,
in just one block, seems to capture the
essence of America's heartland and in
"working the street" for two years, the
Turnleys took their first step to star-.
dom - a story, along with 11 pages of
their photographs, was published in
35mm Photography magazine in 1975.
TURNLEY'S Ft. Wayne shots make-
me homesick, and I've never even been
to Indiana. Old men chat, young
children grin uninhibitedly up into the
camera; a young woman's face ap-
pears mistily through a weatherbeaten
screen door; the image of a waitress
stares out of-a diner, the empty stretch
of road reflected in the window and in
her stare. One of my favorites of the
street portraits is Wesley, a small boy
in a cowboy hat, whose intense gaze
shows 'an understanding beyond his
years.
In his sophomore year, Turnley went
to study abroad, in Paris. In the six
months that he spent there, he preoc-
cupied himself with photography,
meeting the famous photographers
Henri Cartier-Bresson. and Andre Ker-
tesz with whom he struck up a frien-
dship, and found a new fan for his work.
In my conversation with David, he
expressed a desire to return to Paris,
and his love for the city is reflected in
the photos he took. The photogenic
beauty and joyous atmosphere that we
have all read about are especially
evident in a shot of student protest
marchers, happily singing their gospel.
"Almost every Wednesday, they find
something to march about," David ad-
ded.
THE PARIS photographs are won-
derfully-timed snatches of life, and
leave one with lasting impressions.
(I'm beginning to miss my "old Sor-
bonne home," and I've never been to
France, either.) Some of his Paris
photos were published in two books in
the U.S.
As he mostly enjoys "taking pictures
of people in their own environment,"
Turnley's current project is a photo
essay'on Flander and Anna Hamlin, a
farm couple aged 83 and 77 respec-
tively, living near Northville,
Michigan. Driving along one day, he
happened to see them working, and
"struck by their honest lifestyles," he
knew that he had to photograph them.
The group of farm photos present in
the show make a kind of min-essay,
showing the strength and simplicity of
these people made of "sturdy stuff."
There are shots showing them working
in the field, praying in the church pews,.
and at home, in a particularly haunting
shot of Flander through a distorted
window, with a clock on the wall,
ticking time away ...
"They represent a vanishing
American lifestyle which I am trying to
record.. . They still do all the chores
and have a wonderful love for each
other," says Turnley.
APPARENTLY, they have also
developed a mutual love for David, who
likes "delving into a subject," but knew
that his would be a gradual process, of
involving himself with their lives. "I
don't know," he confided, "if they fully
understand what I'm trying to do yet,"
but they have grown comfortable with
David and his camera present, and
trust has developed between David and
the Hamlins. He often stops by just to
visit, leaving his equipment behind, to
eat dinner with them. He gives them
photos of themselves, and they seem to
be thrilled by them. "They've never
had their picture taken before," he told
me.
David hopes that his work is, in some
way, "humanistic," that his role "is not
to judge, and it is important that my
work should never rob people of their
dignity."
PRESENTLY, Turnley lives in Ann
Arbor, and works as' a photojournalist
for four weekly newspapers in the Ob-
server/Eccentric chain. He would like
to eventually work for a big-city daily
paper, to meet its challenges. "Genuine
emotion is my primary concern. It is
important to me to combine artistic and
journalistic skills to produce a series of
photographs that will capture the way
people are."
The Blixt Gallery (formerly Arcade
Gallery) in the Nickels Arcade is an ex-
cellent showcase for outstanding
photography, in which it deals ex
clusively. In the upcoming months it
will show a varied assortment of-
national and international artists, all
sure to be visually (and mentally)
stimulating.
There isn't a hole
in this Hollo world
This space contributed by the publisher as a public service.
PARIS MAN, one of David Turnley's "slice of life"-style photographs, is one
of many superb images in his one-man show, currently at the Blixt Gallery
in the Nickels Arcade.
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By CAROL WIERZBICKI
Anselm Hollo, poet and translator,
was the fourth and final writer to visit
East Quad in the writers-in-residence
poetry series. His reading at Benzinger
Library Tuesday night proved to be
consistent with the fine quality of the
readings all through the series.
Hollo's poetry is a poetry of many
contrasts. To-illustrate, his first poem,
"White Mountain Apache" dedicated to
Jerome Rothenberg, read much like an
Indian legend, and it was followed by-
"Double Martini," a poem about a
stewardess. Certainly, mixtures of the
modern and the mythical create a kind
of necessary tension in Hollo's poetry.
At one point, he calls a television set
"Ishi".
HOLLO'S READING was an in-
teresting combination of the contem-
plative, philosophical, and the comical.~'
Many poems had the audience laughing
outright, as he pondered, in his arch,
commanding, and sometimes
mechanical voice, everything from
politics to wrinkle cream. One poem,
"A Problem Solved," gives instructions
for removing frowns from faces, in-
cluding spray-painting the head white
and coloring in "nice, round eyes" with
ink, using nickels as guides.
The poet read several works from his
book, Sojourner Microcosms, published
in 1977. While the title may sound a bit
technical, the poems are very down-to-
earth, with a kind of closeness to nature
that can be compared to Indian tribal
poetry. Hollo blends large and tiny
images, and places the simplest adjec-
tives alongside specific ones, to
describe a thunderstorm or a
paramecium. In "Message," a
molecule has its say, as it delivers a
DISTINCTIVE
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clever monologue while passing
through the body.
HOLLO'S WIT and sense of irony are
keen and sharp. "Unpoetic" things
such as articles from old merchant
catalogues (one entitled "The Moral In-
fluence of Steam"), instructions, and
other "found poems" find their way in-
to his work. After reading a poem that
flows with the grace of a dialogue, he'll
switch- to a mechanical, choppy
delivery, and read his "instructions",
much like a semi-literate man trying
intently to puzzle out translated
~Japanese directions.x
He uses worship-language for daily
modern things such as T.V.'s and
stewardesses. He'll repeat the same.
word over and over,- or keep
rearranging the same words in a
hilarious puzzle-poem, until they take
on multiple meanings. He revels in the
nonsensical, and strings together
seemingly unconnected 'images, in a
chain that makes weird sense:
... We'd better get back to the
office
the world's largest collection of
oversized lungs...
FINALLY, HOLLO'S zany and im
possible choice of words works for,
rather than against him. He delivers
political stances in the language of a
three-year-old, and bursts into sudden
eloquence while describing an amoeba
The technical, built-up world, and the
microscopic world of the elements -
both seem to have found a harmony in
Aselm Hollo's writings.
Anselm's reading concluded the East
Quad poetry series for this year. The
quality of the lectures and workshops
connected with the series can be at-
tributed to Writers-in-residence series
coordinator Warren Hecht, who got the
program together, as well as the
writers themselves, who generated
much enthusiasm in the readings and
workshops.
Leukemia.
Its no lne
death sentence.
a
When you were young, no form of
cancer terrified your parents more than
leukemia did.
Just fifteen years ago, a child with
leukemia could expect to live only months.
But, thanks to research, things have
changed.
Children who once lived months are
now living years. Many of them are grow-
ing up. Some are already adults, living
normal lives.
Did you ever wonder what the
American Cancer Society did with the
money you gave us? Well, some of it went
to leukemia research. And, if we had more
we could do more. Give to the American
Cancer Society.
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