ATHENS, Ohio - Spanish professor and former journalist Nelson Hippolyte opened his photography exhibit "Re/Trato, Mirrors of a Postmodern World" May 13 at Adleta Galleries in Canaanville, just outside Athens. \n"I love photography," Hippolyte said, attributing his interest to his days as a journalist in Venezuela. \nThis exhibit is not Hippolyte's first, but he has been working on the collection of images for four years. While in Spain for Ohio University's study abroad program, Hippolyte began taking pictures of posters for art events in the Cheuca area of Madrid, a place within the city where artists gather. \n"I'm really fascinated with the streets in Madrid," he said. \nThe exhibit is made of pictures of portraits displayed on these street posters. "Retrato" means portrait in Spanish, but "re trato" means to re-work. In his work, Hippolyte is re-working the original pictures with his choices of angles and lighting. \n"These are portraits that are portraits of portraits," said Don Adleta, owner of Adleta Galleries and OU professor of graphic design. \nHippolyte met famous photographer Carlos Canovas while in Pamplona, Spain, and took his photography workshop, during which he worked on his photographs of the street posters. \n"It's a process of seeing and doing and learning," he said. \nAdleta said that an image of Christ shown in one of Hippolyte's photographs was powerful and could be used in a place of worship. \nAlthough Hippolyte took hundreds of pictures, only 14 will be displayed in the gallery. Adleta chose which images will be displayed in the show, and these will be for sale.
In addition to the show, a book of 30 images was released. Only 100 issues of the book will be printed, and they will sell for $30. Adleta, who is publishing this edition, is looking for a publisher to make a larger run. \nIn his native Venezuela, however, Hippolyte published four books before censorship changed his life. A respected print, radio and television journalist, Hippolyte angered a powerful family with an article about its house. \nBecause of that family's influence, Hippolyte left Venuzuela in 1990 and came to the United States. \n"Nowadays it is very difficult to do journalism," he said, referring to the problem of censorship. \nHippolyte wants to teach his students that the world does not end at the borders of the U.S. Hippolyte is also very critical of certain parts of U.S. culture. \n"I have to confess, I don't watch TV," he said. Hippolyte's choice is based on his view that the media in the U.S. do not show the whole story or much of the truth, especially about the war in Iraq. \n"I like to know what's going on," he said. \nHis sadness and feelings of inability to change this are reflected in his artistic combination of beautiful but torn and slowly decaying posters, he said. \n"They are a mirror of the times we are living in," he said. \nHippolyte thinks people in the United States are too insulated, have no idea about the rest of the world and are focused on music, television and video games instead of what is important. \n"I hope we can see a change," he said. \nOne factor to blame is technology, he said. "It has a good side but also a bad one." \nOne especially frustrating aspect of the technology culture is the lack of privacy, in general, specifically telemarketers. \n"When I go home, my answering machine is full," he said. "You have no privacy"
