Skidmore News

Issue date: 3/12/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Lauren Elsner Frank Cordelle talks about his photography [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Lauren Elsner Students view Century Project portraits [Click to enlarge]

From March 1 to March 4, in the Faculty Staff Club on the second floor of Case Center, the photographer Frank Cordelle brought his exhibition, titled "The Century Project," to the college. The exhibit, installed by Becca Kolins '12 and Stephen Bissonette '12, consisted of nude portraits of women ranging from newborns to age 100, also accompanied with their personal stories.

Each of the women's narratives reflected their own personal stories, many having to do with tragedies, such as sexual abuse, cancer, body image issues, obesity and plastic surgery. These photos, taken over the course of 25 years of Cordelle's career, feature women of all different racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as body shapes.

Cordelle first became interested in photography in sixth grade, and it wasn't until when he was in training to become a biochemist in his 20s that he realized photography was the career he wanted to pursue. His interest in the art form began when he saw images of Vietnam War victims. "The camera became a powerful tool for social change, and not just a hip piece of jewelry to wear around your neck," Cordelle said.

His captivation with the human body stems in part from his upbringing. Cordelle lived in a household raised by a German mother where nudity was the norm. "Why is something so beautiful automatically dirty?" Cordelle asked. He believes that a woman's body can be perceived as a humanistic portrait.

His photographs are shot in either black and white or colored film with a medium format camera, and then scanned digitally to his computer with minimal editing. He doesn't tell his models how to act when he shoots them. "With time, it's natural for people to relax with the shoot," he said. This method produces portraits that convey a range of emotions from smiles to laughs to cries.

Cordelle has exhibited his work all over the U.S., from Kentucky to California, in venues that range from Ivy League schools to Churches. With Cordelle's publication of his book, "In Bodies and Souls: The Century Project 98", he has received fantastic reviews, the most prominent in Oprah Winfrey's magazine in 2007. Cordelle will continue to display "The Century Project" for the immediate future in addition to shooting new material. You can follow his work at www.thecenturyproject.com.

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