Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/93284
Lincoln Schatz '82 Creates Art at Latin "This was a wonderful opportunity for our students to collaborate with a professional artist and witness the evolution of an art installation." – Betty Lark Ross Respected artist and alumnus Lincoln Schatz '82 was on campus in October to work with Latin students on his newest photography project. During one day, Schatz took photos of nearly 86 students, faculty and staff from all three divisions. The assignment was for each participant to stand in front of Schatz's camera for 15 seconds and shake his or her head side to side. The resulting large scale photographs, which were on display in the upper school's Gallery 2 from October 27 until November 11, were unexpected and beautiful. "This was a wonderful opportunity for our students to collaborate with a professional artist and witness the evolution of an art installation on a community-wide level," said Visual Arts Department Chair Betty Lark Ross of Schatz's time at Latin. For Schatz, who frequently invites Latin visual arts students to visit his studio, it was a rare opportunity to work directly with students, all while bringing an artistic vision to life. "For the past 10 years I have been very interested in the relationship between the sitter and the subject in portraiture," said Schatz. "I embrace a system in which neither the artist nor the sitter can exert control over the image." The logistical challenge that he faced with this idea in mind was to design a shoot that would take a minimum of time to complete and in which students of any age could easily participate. Asking his models to shake their heads achieved his goals and vision even better than Schatz anticipated. "The resulting images are full of energy and joy," he said. "The social mask is gone; what you see is pure human expression and engagement." At the end of the day, Schatz was thrilled with the enthusiasm with which everyone at Latin embraced his experiment. In fact, one lower school student was so committed to his vision, and shook her head so vigorously, that she almost fell over. "I saw her moving out of the camera frame and jumped over to catch her before she went down," he said. "The resulting photos are great!" To find out more about Schatz's art and to see our students shaking their heads, visit lincolnschatz.com and click on Recent Work. l 16 Latin Magazine UP FRONT