Staff photo by Gage Cureton Minnesota State University, Mankato, photography students Luis Orozco Marmolejo, left, and Nidia Mariscal install their photography projects in the Four Pillars Gallery at The Grand Center for Arts and Culture Wednesday. The Grand’s latest exhibit, called “Reimagined Landscapes,” opens for viewing today, with an opening reception set for 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1.

NEW ULM — The Grand Center For Arts and Culture unveils its latest art exhibit “Reimagined Landscapes” today day with an official opening reception set for Nov. 1 in the Four Pillars Gallery.

The exhibit features landscape photography projects created by Minnesota State University, Mankato, photography students in Assistant Professor of Photography Areca Roe’s intermediate and advanced photography courses.

The students were tasked to reinvent the genre of landscape photography and to put their own unique twist on it.

“The work in this show alters or reimagines the traditional photographic genre of landscape using a variety of approaches and methods,” Roe said.

She said landscape photography has traditionally been a favorite genre of photographers since it first became a medium. Many traditional landscape photographs show little or no human activity and portray a dramatic or romantic picture of nature.

“With this exhibition we hope to push the idea of landscape photography outside this tradition,” Roe said.

Students in Roe’s intermediate and advanced photography art courses were tasked to use various techniques to reimagine the traditional landscape photograph. Some students decided to use a toy camera called the Holga, and created double and triple exposure or mirrored imagery. Others used a scanner to create compositions of natural materials combined with man-made materials on the scanner bed.

“Some used macro photography to create landscapes from miniature natural features, and some used Photoshop editing to alter the landscape,” Roe said. “Each piece represents a different take on the idea of landscape.”

Nidia Mariscal, one of Roe’s students, used a Holga to capture triple exposure images of rides at the Minnesota State Fair amidst a gloomy sky. She said she wanted to reimagine the state fair as a gritty, creepy place.

“It’s the state fair and it’s a ‘happy place,'” Mariscal said. “When you look at these, it’s kind of creepy.”

Luis Orozco Marmolejo, a fourth-year student, used a digital camera to capture a mirrored streetview of his hometown of Aquila, Michoacan, Mexico.

“I just want to showcase my culture through my picture, so they can see kind of where I grew up,” he said. “I just wanted to focus on the homestyle-side and the memories I had growing up in that town.”

The “Reimagined Landscapes” exhibit opens for viewing today in the Four Pillars Gallery at The Grand Center for Arts and Culture. The official opening reception is 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1. Students from Minnesota State University, Mankato, will be at the reception to showcase their work.

Gage Cureton can be emailed at gcureton@nujournal.com.