Art exhibit shows beauty of Shannon Point

A series of photos representing the subtle serenity and unexpected beauty of Western Washington University's Shannon Point Marine Center is on display in the foyer of the SMATE building on campus through Nov. 19.

This quarter, all three of art professor Garth Amundson’s classes are collaborating with Shannon Point and using the facility and location as a resource for their creative endeavors; the photo classes are documenting the location, and the 495 Professional Practice class will have proposed a permanent installation at the center.

The photos in SMATE are from students in the 290 beginning and 390 intermediate photography classes.

Shannon Point Marine Center, in Anacortes, promotes Western’s instructional and research programs in the marine sciences by providing access to facilities for visiting scientists, promoting ocean literacy in the general public, and enabling hands-on research in the local area. The students worked with Steve Sulkin, the center's director, and Gene McKeen, manager of Academic Support Services, to learn more about the facility and what it offers students.

Upon visiting Shannon Point, the students attempted to convey their personal understandings of the relationship between humanity and nature as well as the aesthetic balance that can be seen when looking though a lens. The beginning photography students used either a 35mm analog camera or a digital camera, while the intermediate students used a large format view camera with 4-inch-by-5-inch negatives.

"ON POINT : SHANNON POINT MARINE CENTER" will be exhibited in the foyer of the Science, Math and Technology Education building through Nov. 19.