For some graduating seniors, finals aren’t the only hurtle to overcome. Seniors in the photography department must also prepare senior exhibitions.

Ten seniors – Zachary Campbell, Ashley Kuntz, Heather Mertz, Jessica Monroe, Felicia Moses, Alexianna Mundy, Olivia Nevius, Trisha Piszcek, Amanda Smiley and Kelsey Steinhauser – graduate from the photography department this fall. The below-average class size assisted in creating the one-of-a-kind exhibit, “The Emerging Allegory.”

“‘The Emerging Allegory’ is basically about our travels and our journeys that have gotten us this far,” Kuntz said. “I don’t think there is one piece of artwork in there that doesn’t have some sort of meaning of our own journey.”

The students not only receive the opportunity to showcase their work in the GVSU Art Gallery, but also to learn how to put together a professional exhibition. Students split up to complete PR work, advertising work and construction of the exhibit.

For many of the students, the exhibition is the first time they will see their work on display. Due to the small class size, the students are able to showcase more of their work.

“This year we have people putting up, like if you have a large image, four or five, but most of us have six to eight,” Kuntz said. “It is nice because we can actually lay out our work to make it the strongest instead of giving people the sneak peek of what could be. It makes our work stronger because we can show people everything that we want to instead of having to decide between 20 images if we are only showing three.”

The small class size isn’t the only element to set this group apart. All of the photographs in the showcase are in full color.

“This year we don’t even have any black and white images, straight up everything is color so it is unusual,” Kuntz said. “It is funny because when I first came to Grand Valley, my first class with all of these people was color printing so it is kind of ironic because I met all of them at Grand Valley in color class.”

The colorful art pieces range from self-portraits to construction paper art to doors. All the photographs hold power in one’s interpretation, Moses said.

On Nov. 21, the students hold a reception to interact with peers and people in the community. The reception is an opportunity for people to come and see the students’ work but also for students to hear others’ perception of their work.

The free reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. is open to the public. However, the exhibit itself will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Dec. 7.

“It’s kind of everything we’ve learned put together,” Moses said. “It is a kind of example of what we do outside school after graduation.”

[email protected]