Summer Centered: Zach Alden '17 Has A Positive Experience With Negatives

Zach Alden's '17 interest in photography began in his sophomore year when he impulsively took an introductory course with Audrey A. and John L. Dusseau Professor in Humanities and Professor of Fine Arts William Williams. Since then, he has developed an even deeper engagement with black-and-white photography.

This summer, through the John B. Hurford '60 Center for the Arts and Humanities' Student Research Assistantship program, Alden, a psychology major, is organizing an archive of hundreds of black-and-white and color negatives with Williams.

"Black-and-white photography requires a great degree of patience," says Alden. "This job has given me the opportunity to exercise and develop patience as I work in the darkroom every day."

Alden spent the end of his spring semester working with Natasha Cohen-Carroll '13 on the installation of Rift/Fault: Landscape Photographs of the North American Continental Plate, an exhibition showcasing the work of artist Marion Belanger. Belanger's photographs present the two extremes of the North American Plate: the western edge at California's San Andreas Fault and the eastern edge in Iceland. The exhibit opened during Alumni Weekend in Marshall Fine Arts Center.

"After much effort installing the exhibition, it was immensely satisfying to see Rift/Fault open on Alumni Weekend and to have dinner with the artist afterwards," says Alden, who wants to continue working with photography while still pursuing his other academic interests.

"I hope to do creative work throughout my life, whether that is through photography or psychology or anything else," he says.

—By Hina Fathima '15

"Summer Centered" is a series exploring our students' Center-funded summer work.