âÄúHere and NowâÄù WHERE: The Katherine E. Nash Gallery, 405 21st Ave. S. WHEN: Oct. 13 âÄì Nov. 12 PRICE: Free The University of Minnesota photography faculty has been influencing the prolific Twin Cities art scene for decades. How fitting to honor them in an exhibition of their own. âÄúHere and NowâÄù is opening in conjunction with the Midwest regional conference for the Society for Photographic Education . The showâÄôs pieces stretch from playful to conceptual, touting everything from a series of photographs of ping pong tables to works depicting lifeless apartments after tenants have moved out. James Henkel , an associate professor for the department of art and curator for the show, describes the exhibit as âÄúan ongoing evolution of the photography here at the University.âÄù Since art is always in a state of development, the exhibition is an examination of what is deemed to be professional photography âÄúhere and now.âÄù âÄúThis show is about âÄòright nowâÄô in that continuum,âÄù adds Henkel. âÄúWe are borrowing from the instantaneous moment of the snapshot photo âĦ ThatâÄôs where the title of the exhibition comes from.âÄù The first piece visible upon entry into the gallery is a film by Jan Estep . The looped movie features prisoners reading off clichés about âÄútimeâÄù as an examination of the phrase âÄúdoing time.âÄù One after another, the inmates read, âÄúThese things take time,âÄù âÄúThere is a time for everything,âÄù âÄúDo you remember the timeâÄù and âÄúIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times.âÄù Adjunct faculty member Colleen MullinsâÄô series features unsuspecting photography subjects taken on a cruise ship. The guests on the cruise were unable to see in MullinâÄôs window while she was taking their portraits, leaving them natural and unsuspecting. The series comments on the way that people act when others arenâÄôt looking: checking their makeup, stretching and stopping for a moment to think. The black and white series also examines the privileged demographic that frequently travels on cruise ships. In the next room, graduate student Areca RoeâÄôs series of photographs shows cutout animal shapes lurking in places usually reserved for domestic life. A reindeer-shaped towel hangs on a clothesline, while stacked moving boxes show cutouts of perched birds. Though the images were not created or selected to have cohesive textural or conceptual themes, the juxtaposition of stained glass windows, photographs of remote controls and pictures of pixilated mountains expounds upon the versatility of the photographic medium.