"Tunnelitis" Artist Talk & Reception

Join us on Saturday, May 21st from 6:00 – 10:00pm for our artist talk and reception for the exhibition “Tunnelitis” by Raymond Thompson Jr. The artist talk will take place at the Gallery at Studeō PAR- at 6:00pm with Q&A and reception to follow.

Austin-based photographer, Raymond Thompson Jr. has worked as both a photojournalist and as a visual artist. His work has been published in The New York Times, NPR, The Intercept and Politico. Thompson currently teaches Photojournalism at the University of Texas at Austin.

Thompson’s current exhibition “Tunnelitis” examines the Hawks Nest Mining Disaster that occurred in West Virginia during the 1930’s that led to the death of nearly 800 workers. Thompson’s expertly composed and dramatically lit photographs give off a sense of quiet. Dust suffuses the image, obscuring the figures or objects depicted. This obfuscation of the subject echoes the history surrounding this tragedy which is largely unknown to the wider American public. As a visual journalist, the scant documentation of the event and the erasure it allowed compelled Thompson to create his series of photographs.