Arts & Galleries

In a new exhibit being shown at the UCR/California Museum of Photography, members of the Riverside community and UCR ARTSblock curators and staff are part of the show.

Photographer Keliy Anderson-Staley's exhibit, "Riverside-Americans," will have an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. Feb. 4 as part of First Thursday ARTSwalk in Downtown Riverside.

In taking pictures of local people, such as a local coffee shop owner, Anderson-Staley uses a process to make individual and couple portraits have the look of photos from the 1850s and 1860s. Workshops were held in October that had the photo subjects watch Anderson-Staley set up the camera and develop the images in a makeshift cardboard darkroom.

The thought behind the exhibit is to look at the idea that back in the 1850s it was believed that photographs could scientifically record and catalogue a person's racial or ethnic identity.

To get the desired effect, Anderson-Staley used hand-poured chemistry, wooden view cameras and brass lenses to expose the positive images directly on blackened metal and glass. The subject must sit still in front of the camera for one minute.

The exhibit will run through Feb. 27.

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Keliy Anderson-Staley / Special to The Press-Enterprise

Darren Conkerite, owner of Back to the Grind coffee shop.

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Keliy Anderson-Staley / Special to The Press-Enterprise

Lee Tusman, artist and Riverside Art Museum educator.