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Photographer utilizes obscurity
By Beth Kern
Since he was a boy growing up in Mexico City, Mexico, Xavier Tavera has loved taking pictures. A self-taught photographer, Tavera used photos to record family memories. These memories take center stage in the exhibit on display in the Kiehle Gallery titled "Tiera Atras" or "Background," this exhibit is about 'family absence and presence.'"
"(These are) portraits that talk about the present and question the future, or talk about past and question the present. Portraits that show the absence of people, displaying only their clothing but revealing their identity. Portraits revealing their beliefs, revealing maternity, revealing paternity," Tavera wrote in the introduction to the exhibit.
"Background" opened Jan. 14. It is an exhibit of photo art that deals with family, but also with the issue of race.
"What you see changes with what you know," said graduate student Laurie Leitch. "Your perspective differs."
The exhibit is comprised of three different parts and uses a combination of clothing and obscured imagery to demonstrate the theme of absence and presence.
The first display looks out on the hallway just inside Kiehle Hall's main entrance. It is a series of clothes in black and white.
"I want people, when they see them, to wonder who do they belong to," Tavera said.
The second is a series of five photos of fathers holding their sons. Each pair is outfitted differently; each father's face is partially obscured. The infant is very clearly seen, but not as defined as their fathers.
"These to me show what is and what is yet to be," Leitch said.
"The babes are fascinating," said SCSU student Ryan Flanders of Paynesville. "They're so impressionable."
The last group of three do not seem to connect with the rest of the display at first. But they do. Images of praying hands and kneeling feet portray the anticipation of childbirth.
"I had, you know, the fathers there holding the babies," Tavera said. "I also wanted to catch the essence of the mother."
When asked if photography was his only art form, Tavera said yes.
"I don't like painting," Tavera said. "I don't have the patience." Instead, Tavera uses the tools of lighting, film, lenses, props and people to create scenes.
"I love the whole process," Tavera said. "I like coming up with ideas, contacting people ... organizing the shoot, but mostly shooting. I love seeing the pictures the first time after development and picking which one I will use."
As a child, Xavier used his family's point-and-shoot camera to take pictures.
"One time, I was at this parade," Tavera recalls of his childhood. "I took this picture of these planes as they flew over. At first I thought this was cool, but when my mom picked them up after development she was mad. They looked like mosquitos. She said, 'Film is expensive! Why do you waste it?'"
But from his humble beginnings, Tavera learned the art of photography and turned it into an intriguing art form.
"It's not like painting," Tavera said. "You can't erase it and do it over."
As for "Background," Tavera is pleased with its layout.
"I'm happy with the results. I like the way it looks."
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