Your future, our focus
The “Saúde Portugal” photo exhibit, which translates from Portuguese to “Cheers to Portugal,” opens with a 7 p.m. artists’ reception Tuesday, May 1, in Northwest College’s SinClair Gallery.
For the past 15 years, the NWC Photographic Communications program has led field study trips for students and community members to locations around the world.
“These culturally rich photographic excursions have provided a valuable opportunity for Northwest College students to experience the intricacies of travel photography within the structure of a multinational experience,” NWC Associate Professor of Photography Christine Garceau said. Past field study trips have included locations such as Morocco, Cuba, China, Vietnam, Argentina and Uruguay.
This year’s exhibit features the photographic revelations of 15 students, faculty and community members enrolled in the Spring 2018 Photo Field Studies class to Portugal led by Dr. Garceau.
Each image in the exhibit reflects students’ experiences of the places and people they encountered while traveling the western coast of central Portugal, including castles in Sintra, water views along the coast in Cascais, as well as elaborate cobblestone mosaics that marked sidewalks and courtyards in every town along the tour.
For sophomore Tia Pierce of Casper, the free day in Lisbon was special for numerous photographic opportunities that “showed how Portuguese culture paid respect to history by adapting what was already there to modern lifestyles.”
In Sintra, a resort town that was a longtime sanctuary for the Portuguese royal family, Digital Studio Specialist Jayne Johnson wanted to spend more time exploring the Pena National Palace. Located in the Sintra Mountains, this town is home to where parts of the “Game of Thrones” series was filmed within the castle’s whimsical gardens replete with battlements and expansive views of the village and countryside below.
Though tour members were shadowed by turbulent weather for most of the trip, freshman Jeff Codevilla of Dubois enjoyed his time in Cascias for “its proximity to the sea and the cultural mix of shops and restaurants.” Not to mention the town’s notoriety for being the site for Ian Fleming’s James Bond series “Casino Royal.”
For one student in particular, the trip took on special importance as she visited the home of her 14th removed ancestor Vasco da Gama, the Count of Vidigueira, and widely known for being the first European to reach India by sea. Descended on her maternal grandmother’s side, sophomore Courtney Weber of Billings marveled at the place she’s heard about in stories her entire life.
“Saúde Portugal” exhibitors include Garceau, Johnson, Pierce, Weber, Codevilla, Molly Gjervold, Makenzie Colling, Jenna Copeland, Anthony Polvere, Jessica Case, Kathy Morris, Jacoby Williams, Tannar Ranstrom, Harleigh Riley and Lisa Copeland.
The SinClair Gallery is located in the Orendorff Building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Images:
Christine Garceau: Daily Transit in Lisbon, Portugal.
Molly Gjervold: Image shows the battlements at the top of the Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal.
Jenna Copeland: Entrance to the Baroque library at the Universidade De Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal.
Christine Garceau: Morning catch on the rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Cascais, Portugal.
Jenna Copeland: View of Porto and Gaia along the shore of the Douro River.