Unique collages are on display at College’s Southern Light Gallery

Aaron Hutchinson, a student of photography at Tarrant County College’s Northeast Campus in Hurst, Texas, is not shy about breaking the rules of photography to bring out his inner thoughts visually.

In fact, Hutchinson’s unique images are on display now through Feb. 1 at Amarillo College’s Southern Light Gallery in an exhibition that he’s literally titled “Breaking the Rules.”

Hutchinson’s images began as handmade collages. After printing them by hand using the historic cyanotype process, he further manipulated the images by hand and computer until his original vision for each had been achieved.

“I have watched Aaron grow as an artist over the years and find this work to be visually compelling, beautifully crafted, and uniquely his own,” said René West, associate professor of photography and curator of AC’s Southern Light Gallery.

The Southern Light Gallery is located on the first floor of the Ware Student Commons on AC’s Washington Street Campus and it is free and open to the public.

Hutchinson says his interest in photography took root in 2005 when he began tinkering with a cheap digital camera and his thoughts turned to the notion of what he might be able to accomplish if he could only print his own imagination.

“This led to a wide range of experiments with the camera,” Hutchinson says. “Then I began to study photography at Tarrant County College. After learning the rules, breaking the rules seemed to be so much more entertaining. As my studies and experiments continued, I began to create a unique visual language for communicating my ideas.

“Scanograms, alternative processes, and hand-made pinhole cameras would become my main tools for creating work,” he said.

For more information about the “Breaking the Rules” exhibit or the Southern Light Gallery, please contact René West at rwest@actx.edu or 806-345-5654.