By: Justin Worthing ~Staff Writer~

Local photographers who have taken photos from all around the world are showcasing their material from Sept. 28 to Oct. 31 in Cohen’s art gallery.

Xavier’s Art Department and FotoFocus 2014 have divided the 33 artists’ work into three separate exhibits.

The largest of the three exhibits, titled “Global Focus,” features work from 31 local photographers whose photos focus on life outside the U.S.

Among the works include photos from India and other parts of Asia, among others. The exhibit includes work by Melvin Grier, a Cincinnati Post veteran photographer and Duncanson Award winner, who will host a discussion on the exhibit from 2:00 -3:30 p.m. on Oct. 15. Global Focus is located in the large art gallery in Cohen.

In the smaller gallery are photos from journalist Gerard Pottebaum. The exhibit is called “The Human Face – A Revelation” and includes over 40 photos of faces from around the world.
“The people in these photographs invite you, as they did me, to walk in their steps,” Pottebaum wrote in the exhibit’s prologue. “They remind us that each person’s life adds still another original part to an all-embracing love story.”

Pottebaum also paired each photo with a quote whose sources include Shakespeare, the Koran, Twain and Thoreau, among others.

“The quotations next to the photographs … invite you to connect your story to this unfolding dialogue that leaps over language barriers,” Pottebaum wrote.

Pottebaum’s photos and their corresponding quotes are featured in a book which can be ordered at the exhibit.

Xavier’s Art Department also features a third exhibit titled “The Zendala Series” located on Gallagher’s third floor.

The exhibit presents works from Tammy L. Brown and is based on the “mandala” art form of Buddhist monks. Brown uses a combination of ink drawings and digital photographs to form her work.
“This concept of achieving peace through the process of releasing our attachment to narrow notions of self and other unifies the mixed-media artwork in this collection,” Xavier’s Art Department wrote in a press release.

Kitty Uetz, director for the Xavier University Art Galleries, is excited to host the exhibit for its second year. Xavier has previously hosted the exhibit in 2012 and Uetz plans to host it again in 2016.

“I hope (students gain an) appreciation of the breadth of the photographic experiences because the images are from all over the world,” Uetz said.

For more information on the exhibit or FotoFocus’s other events, visit fotofocusbiennial.org.