Eclipse
Eclipse: curated by Christopher Rauschenberg
August 3-September 3, 2017
Blue Sky is celebrating the total eclipse of the sun in Oregon on August 21, 2017 with a special exhibition curated by Blue Sky co-founder and photographer Christopher Rauschenberg.
“In 1979 there was a total solar eclipse in the Portland area. Too late, I realized that Blue Sky had missed a great chance to ‘educate the public about photography’ by having an Eclipse Show that had no photographs of the sun and moon.
“If you picture a photographer at work, you are likely to picture them moving side to side while looking through the camera—trying out various compositions with various combinations of foreground objects eclipsing the background ones. Eclipsing is a primary aspect of photography, but it’s not part of people’s understanding of the medium. If you don’t notice something unless it makes the sun go dark in the daytime, maybe you’re really not paying attention as much as you might.
“If this exhibition tempts you into occasionally closing one eye and playing with lining things up and eclipsing, then I’m happy. The world is, among other things, a visual playground and play is always important work.”
Christopher Rauschenberg received his BA from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. His work has been exhibited at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA, the Chicago Cultural Center, the International Center of Photography in New York, and the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, among many other major institutions. An exceptionally active leader in the Northwest arts community, he taught at Marylhurst College in Lake Oswego, Oregon for many years and cofounded Nine Gallery here in Blue Sky and photography nonprofit Photolucida, in addition to cofounding Blue Sky Gallery in 1975.