By Grant Terwilliger
Renowned photographer Terrence A. Reese, A.K.A TAR, brought his Reflections exhibit to SUNY Plattsburgh’s Burke Gallery on March 25 and hosted an art lecture on March 26.
Reese has been working on Reflections for 30 years. His series has been in museums across the country, including the Smithsonian Institute and the Louvre.
Every museum exhibit starts with an artist reaching out to a museum director. Art exhibits are scheduled years in advance making it difficult to work in accepted exhibits in a timely manner. Sometimes luck plays a role in whether an exhibit is organized or not.
“When artists reach out to me and I’m interested in their work, but I can’t quite get them in right away, I hang on to their work. It just happened to work out where I reached out to Terrence and asked him if the exhibit schedule would work for him. Thankfully he was available,” Museum Director Tonya Cribb said.
According to Cribb, it is important to have artwork that connects with current events and the audience of students in many different majors and backgrounds.
Reese first started his reflections project amid frustration in his mentor Andrew Collins studio while Collins was cooking ginseng. Reese stepped in front of a mirror and was hit with inspiration for a photograph.
“Fear is your greatest advantage, when you’re so afraid that you’re gonna fail step forward,” Reese said. “I could see his reflection in the mirror, and I turned around. I said, ‘Holy, if I get you in the mirror, it’ll be a reflection of your life. I’ll be back tomorrow with 10,000 watts of power’.”
Reese quickly built his portfolio by asking each person he photographed for five more people to photograph. He went on to photograph famous individuals such as musician Richie Havens, photographer Gordon Parks, artist Lois Mailou Jones and has taken pictures for many famous musical artists such as A Tribe called Quest, Billy Joel, Tupac Shakur, Jay Z, BB King and many others.
Reese said he seeks to teach others through his work and finds that there’s so much you can learn by observing how a person lives.
Reese was born in Chicago and graduated from Southern Illinois University. He then moved to New York City to pursue photography full time.
Creating visual pieces that tell a story about popular figures in culture is a passion of Reese’s. He not only features intricate environmental photos in his work, but accompanies it with personal, written memoirs of the photography sessions.
Every photo has a mirror hidden in the photo with the subject of the photograph within the mirror making his work a sort of an I spy. He looks to teach viewers that when you are passionate about something you have to keep it going.
“You can’t stop because you can’t go back, you have to forge forward and be,” Reese said. “All you create will outlive you, so this will represent you long after you’re gone, and this is what I enjoy about it the most.”
Reese is a multimedia artist and has written books amassing the wisdom he has learned throughout his life. He said he has a passion for helping people and is looking to make his next project more inclusive.
The exhibit allows students of all majors and backgrounds to find something that resonates with them from the exhibit.
Cribb changes up the type of media in the museum from season to season and diversifies the subject matter of the exhibits. Reflections is about historical African American figures in 20th century history.
The reflections exhibit will be on display in the Burke gallery from March 25 to August 1.
