'Big Heads' on display through Feb. 18

Students in Garth Amundson's Art 371 photography class at Western Washington University have hung their latest work in the foyer of the SMATE Building on campus. The "Big Heads" exhibit will be available for viewing through Feb. 18.

For the project, a study of portraiture the students divided into groups of two to four. Each team worked together with 4x5 large-format view cameras for the duration of the assignment.

The students' investigation questions the relationship between traditional analog technology and contemporary digital applications. Although the negatives were created with a conventional view camera, the large prints were produced by scanning the negatives and printing them with Western's 7800 Epson printer. Ultimately, the high quality resolution of the negatives are a direct result of the camera's ability to capture detail.

This project illustrates the necessity of working together as collaborative teams both conceptually and technically; each team shared their experience and helped create a series of images thematically linked by their research.

Class list:

• Madeline Belle Berkman, Seattle, WA
• Jessica Faith Bloom, Colville, WA
• Reese Blue Bowen, Gig Harbor, WA
• Emily Rose Jones-Blachowicz, Bothell, WA
• Galen William Kydd, Bambridge Island, WA
• Ella Ordona, Seattle, WA
• Alyssa K. Pitcher, Lynden, WA
• Gabrielle X.Poncz, Redmond, WA
• Hannah Bryan Raper, Puyallup, WA
• Robin Erin Sizemore, Mount Vernon , WA
• Kaylin Nicole Stiefer, Maple Valley, WA
• Collin Kenneth Whalen, Vancouver, WA
• Bailey Carrell, Steamboat, CO
• Quinton Maldonado, Richland, WA

Special thanks to: Bailey Carrell, Quinton Maldonado and Nathan Cranston