Exhibit showcases versatile talents of photographer Monte Nagler

It would be an overstatement to call the University of Michigan Health System Gift of Arts exhibit “Statements of Light and Color: Photography by Monte Nagler” a greatest hits compendium—but it does showcase multiple facets of his work.

Nagler’s choice of 21 black and white, infrared, and color photographs in this display cut across his considerable oeuvre. As such, “Statements of Light and Color” combines the impulse of his last two local exhibits: Domino Farms’ 2005 “20 Countries: Images of the World by Monte Nagler” and the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s August 2005 “Monte Nagler’s Michigan.” 

That former exhibit featured choice images from countries as far apart as Barbados to Switzerland and Cambodia, while his later “Michigan” was a keen look closer at home. This UMHS Gifts of Art presentation combines hearty elements of both shows.

Yet there’s one more crucial element to add to this display of superlative photography. For as Nagler said in his gallery statement at Domino's Farms, “It was during a period of intense work (with lifelong mentor Ansel Adams) that I realized making photographs is a way to experience beauty instead of looking at it.”

This notion of inhabiting the photographic composition is an integral part of this display, because Nagler indeed experiences the world through the lens of his camera. His melding of eye, technology, and composition makes his photography memorable.

As any seasoned photographer knows, just seeing is not enough; the way you see makes the difference between a competent and a superior photograph. As Nagler says in his Gifts of Art statement, “Photographers have the ability to make visible what others can only sense.

“This concept excites me. I want to stir people's emotions with my photographs, get them to see the world in a fine light, and help them to appreciate life a little more. I've been through a lot of exciting times and adventures to obtain these photographs, and in doing so I've developed a keen awareness of the earth and its elements.

“If I can help to instill in others some of the same feelings through my photographs, then a deep sense of accomplishment and satisfaction is mine. How fortunate I am to have a life work that is so gratifying and enjoyable.”

There’s a studied patience in Nagler's work that gives each composition a rarefied authenticity. In fact, it’s this relaxed approach that makes each Nagler image a remarkable, privileged moment.

The exhibit illustrates the range of his expertise. Not content with the drama afforded by black and white photography, he’s also included color images whose chromaticity saturates the eye with its lush brilliance. And he’s also included two spectacular infrared works that utilize the digital camera’s ability to see the world beyond the limits of our eyesight.

These two digital images—“Vietnamese Child—Hanoi, Vietnam” and “Mont St. Michel—Normandy, France”—show us Nagler's range from portraiture to architecture. “Vietnamese Child” features a young girl demurely gazing at the viewer in one of those stunning psychological studies that reveal volumes of character in a single glanc,e while “Mont St. Michel” is jut as polished an architectural composition.