Contact: Garth Amundson, Garth.Amundson@wwu.edu

BELLINGHAM - Photography students from the Western Washington University Department of Art have created a project entitled "Bridging the Gap" that is on display from June 4 through July 31 on the sky bridge over Third Avenue in downtown Seattle between the historic Macy's department store and parking garage. 

Working with Macy's downtown store visual manager, Pierre Gour, students in WWU's 391 Color Photography course created 24 large format self-portraits.  The students ambitiously took on the task of using themselves as models, working in teams, and researching imagery of the "Summer of Love" - Macy's summer promotion theme.  Gour then selected images that were relevant to the promotion and the students were asked to alter or edit their work according to what suited the sky bridge.  Finally, after several test prints, the students installed their self-portraits, which can be viewed from the street below.

Featured students in "Bridging the Gap" include Sarah Brown, Jeffrey Emtman, Lillian Furlong, Megan Harmon, Adam McRae, Michelle Newman, Kelli Waugh, Marshall Westerman, Margaret Faubion, and Seth Lunde.

"As an instructor, I am constantly looking for ways to push the boundaries of photography and introduce students to new and challenging exhibition venues," said WWU Associate Professor of Art Garth Amundson.  The project was designed to introduce fine art photography students to a commercial project, and to highlight the dialogue between the fine art and commercial worlds.

For more information about the project and Western's Photography Program, please contact Amundson at Garth.Amundson@wwu.edu or visit http://www.wwu.edu/artphotography.

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