By Zahria Perkins, Class of 2018

The space is occupied with about twenty people but yet, the sound of a pen dropping can be heard as clear as day. The sunshine coming through a floor to ceiling glass window is casting a slight glare on the photographs gracefully draped on the walls. Everyone is moving in a slow, trance-like state but not one person has broken eye contact with the art on display.

It may not be the first place that pops into your head when you consider viewing an art exhibit but Saint Peter’s University is ensuring that it will be pretty soon.

On September 9th, 2017 the Mac Mahon Student Center at Saint Peter’s University opened its Fine Arts Gallery; an exhibition that is part of of JC Fridays and the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour. The gallery is not only open to students and faculty but to the general public as well.

The group exhibition features the work of photographers Michael Endy, Frank Gimpaya, Susan Evans Grove, Kay Kenny, Trix Rosen and Edward Fausty.

While the exhibit does possess an overwhelming sense of unity, each photographer’s series offers their own individual take on the outside world.

For Edward Fausty in particular, his series Worlds challenges the structure in which we view our everyday lives through the use of fisheye lenses.

“I wanted to make round images. Actually, all photographs are round. All lenses project a round circle,” said Fausty. “I originally struggled with the fisheye lens because of its extreme distortion, which I wasn’t looking for in my work. But the more I used it the more I saw a few images here and there that reminded me of the Earth or another world seen from space. I realized that the fisheye defines a spherical geometry. So rather than going for the circle I would work with the sphere.”

Fausty also explained how his photographs are mostly inspired by his walks in the woods with his dog Moose as well as when he travels.  

“Some of the pictures shown are from Block Island,” Fausty pointed out. “They (the images) are captured digitally and printed digitally on Japanese paper.”

Fausty’s photography career has spanned over the last 59 years and along with his extensive experience also came an apparent shift within his field.

“The main issue is limitations. Now there are very few,” said Fausty. “We can do so many things that were just dreams and fantasies before. But oddly enough, the limitations drove the creative process in the past… Now, the lack of limits makes decisions harder. But of course once you decide to do something there are usually real ways to do it.”

Make sure to view Edward Fausty’s spherical take on the world through his series Worlds as well as the other photographs at the Fine Arts Gallery.