Pipo Nguyen-duy's exhibition East of Eden closes this week. If you did not have an opportunity to see these beautiful photographs, the 48-page, full-color exhibition catalogue is available by subscription to Contact Sheet or an individual order.

East of Eden describes an existence beyond the promised paradise. In Pipo's work something is either very wrong or about to go amiss. Since starting this series in 2002, Pipo has staged his scenarios for East of Eden in different anonymous and non-descript places all over the United States. He recently returned to Vietnam to extend his project to a landscape that bears the physical scars of war, and with the people that have lived and survived its horrors. Cracking open the façade only hinted at in the East of Eden series, the Vietnam photographs mix dignity and acceptance with the physical reality of war.

PIPO NGUYEN-DUY: East of Eden
January 17–March 9, 2006
Light Work, Main Gallery, Robert B. Menschel Media Center

Light Work is pleased to announce our upcoming exhibition Soldier by New York photographer Suzanne Opton. This exhibition takes an unusual and intimate look at soldiers who recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. The work is a mixture of black-and-white and color photographs that range in style from timeless studio portraits to intimate close-up views of the heads of the soldiers lying on a flat surface. The artist says of the series, "We all experience strategic moments when we feel most alive. These are the moments we will always remember, be they transcendent or horrific. Afterall, what are we if not our collection of memories? In making these portraits of soldiers, I simply wanted to look in the face of someone who'd seen something unforgettable."

In addition to the exhibition, the artist's images will appear on five billboards throughout Syracuse, which will extend her exhibition into the community in addition to drawing the community to Light Work through the exhibition and the lecture. The exhibition, related programs, and billboards have been funded by the Central New York Community Foundation, and received additional funding by Syracuse University's PULSE program. With this support we are able to invite renowned art critic Vicki Goldberg, who will hold a lecture on soldiers and their place in the history of photography on April 6. She also wrote the essay that will be printed in the exhibition catalogue, Contact Sheet #136.

Light Work job opportunities

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Light Work is currently accepting applications for the newly created position of Assistant Director. The Assistant Director will work in all areas of Light Work's operation, and the successful candidate will be an individual who understands and champions the organization's commitment to supporting emerging and under recognized mature artists. The position requires the ability to work as part of a team of seven professional staff members, and the proven ability to take initiative, be a creative problem solver, as well as a skilled administrator. A working knowledge of photographic practices and techniques, including black-and-white, color, and digital imaging is a must. The successful candidate must possess this knowledge in order to effectively advise visiting Artists-in-Residence, as well as support the staff in Light Work's public-access photography and computer lab facility.

Other job opportunities at Syracuse University include the position of Director of Arts Programming in the newly formed art coalition CMAC. The Director of Arts Programming will be responsible for designing, curating, and promoting exhibitions and projects at the Warehouse Gallery by emerging and accomplished artists whose work attempts to engage the community in a dialogue regarding the role the arts can play in illuminating the critical issues of our life and times. The Warehouse Gallery is newly constructed and the Director of Arts Programming will be responsible for creating an experimental exhibition space that will seek to design and define strategies for exhibition spaces of the future that would explore new technologies such as smart walls, computer interactivity, and seamless video projection.

The Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC) at Syracuse University also seeks qualified candidates for the position of Media and Communication Designer. The Media and Communication Designer will create, implement, and design all printed, media, graphic, and signage materials for CMAC to create a cohesive and professional image and consistent message for all Coalition members.

Applications will be accepted through March 15. Salary will be commensurate with candidate's experience, and includes full health and pension benefits. To apply or for a full description of the positions, please visit www.sujobopps.com.

Alessandra Sanguinetti book available

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Alessandra Sanguinetti's book On the Sixth Day is finally available. Light Work offers signed copies of the book and a one-year subscription to Contact Sheet for $75 (or $67.50 when ordered online). For $35 the book can also be ordered by itself.

This eighty-page cloth-bound book includes sixty-one color reproductions. Sanguinetti's vivid photographs depict the coexistence of people and animals in an arrestingly honest portrayal. She made these pictures by roadsides, in fields, and in woods near her home in a province of Buenos Aires. Her photographs reveal and describe with clarity the rituals and traditions of the local farmers whose lives interweave with a host of domestic animals caught in the cycle that is life and death. The work in On the Sixth Day goes beyond straight documentary practice and evokes an intimacy that, confounding our sensibilities, is a privilege to experience.