Step into photographers’ lives at ‘Oracle in the Aperture’ exhibit
Curated by Brian Van Lau, “Oracle in the Aperture” is a photography exhibition that is currently on display in Watson Hall until May 22. The exhibition brings together a variety of photographers of different styles. Avery Magee | Photo Editor
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An unassuming hallway in Watson Hall is filled with 25 eccentric photographs, each taken by a different photographer. Three rows of images stretch across the walls. There are no labels or plaques to describe the photos; they speak for themselves. Eyes are drawn to the rows as they lace together to create a continuous visual narrative.
“The variety of artists here have worked with different mediums from different backgrounds,” Dan Boardman, director of Light Work, said. “These artists all may contrast to one another, but all their works come from the same place.”
In 2022, Brian Van Lau started Arcanite Pictures, a website for emerging artists to tell their own stories through photography. Since its launch, the project has expanded into collaborative and physical exhibitions.
“Oracle in the Aperture,” now on display until May 22 at the Jeffrey J. Hoone Gallery in Watson Hall, continues that expansion. The exhibit, curated by Van Lau, brings together 25 photographers in a collaboration between Arcanite Pictures and Light Work.
“Oracle in the Aperture” explores family dynamics and artists’ life experiences by sharing it across a broader photography community, he said. The exhibition highlights how a new generation of artists form connections through shared influences and online spaces while bringing their own history and technical practices.
“(The exhibit’s) main goal is just to be able to show emerging and underrepresented photographic art,” Van Lau said. “Especially for those who generally focus on smaller narratives and the personal angle.”
Syracuse University freshman Liz Holt, who has studied photography in the past, said the different photography techniques and provocative imagery stuck with her even past her initial observation.
“When I was walking through, I turned my head, and it seemed to be just photos of specific moments,” she said. “Then I sat down in class, and I couldn’t help but think about them.”
For Van Lau, this exhibition parallels his own work, he said. His debut solo exhibit, “Brian Van Lau: We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys,” located in the adjoining Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery, shares similar themes with the other artists’ photos.
“Both show feature imagery around portals, circles and cycles, as well as hometowns, parental figures and loved ones,” Van Lau said. “Light itself acts as a symbolic guide, both revealing and directing.”
“Oracle in the Aperture” is meant to explore the ornamental power of photography, Van Lau said. Each image transports the viewer into a captured moment that might otherwise go unnoticed. Through these photographs, viewers are invited to step into personal experiences and see how individual stories can connect across a broader artistic community.
Even the way the images are framed and arranged along three interconnecting rows is intentional, Boardman said.
“There’s such a variety of artists and styles here. It felt like a more uniform show wouldn’t really bring together the multitude of expressions happening,” Boardman said. “By creating this tension and distance between the images, you begin to draw connections across different artists.”
Among the works on display are photographs by Joe Leavenworth and Marisa Chafetz, whose projects have been specifically influential to Van Lau, he said. Leavenworth’s “Untitled (Little Five Points)” captures two people gesturing as one examines the other wearing a rainbow tie-dye shirt.
Nearby, Chafetz’s “Mom Saging the New House (Valley Road)” depicts her mother cleansing a room with a strong beam of light cutting through the blinds.
“Both images center on quiet, intimate moments, using recurring elements like circles and light to draw viewers deeper into the frame,” Van Lau said.
This exhibit highlights how art doesn’t necessarily need to be presented formally, but can be impactful and accessible in an unconventional way, he said.
“I wanted it to feel like a small group of people or friends sharing work with each other, rather than from the voice of a press release or how impersonal a thesis statement in class can generally be,” Van Lau said.
