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UNC alum and photographer, Ben Alper, talks to students about the art process

Artist Ben Alper speaks about the inspiration and creative working process in his first three self-publications.
Artist Ben Alper speaks about the inspiration and creative working process in his first three self-publications.

Artist and UNC MFA graduate, Ben Alper, spoke about his connection to UNC and delved into the art process of photography with his audience at the Hanes Art Center on Wednesday.

“The MFA program here did a lot for me both as an artist and as a person," he said. "I have a real connection to this place and the role that it had in my life."

Having started his own art book publishing company in 2015, Alper spoke about how he draws inspiration for his photography from daily life. He showed the audience work from his first three projects.

“All of the things that I showed and talked about tonight are successes along the way, but there were a lot of missteps and a lot of frustrations,” said Alper.

The Artist’s Talk was hosted by the Sloane Art Library and was attended by members of the Chapel Hill community, students and staff.

Some students who attended the talk enjoyed Alper’s use of pictures from his projects "Adrift", "A Series of Occurrences" and "a new nothing" to highlight the process of how he creates art. Focusing on "Adrift" in particular, he discussed how he came up with the idea for his project after his scanner malfunctioned to create a unique design out of a photograph.

“I feel like in arts there is a weird façade of like ‘artists have these brilliant ideas and it turns out perfectly.’ That never happens to me. That never happens to anyone,” said junior Jess Woods. “He talks about the process, which is nice.”

Apler photographs ordinary objects and portrays them in a poetic and mysterious way, sometimes by altering the way the objects appear in the photo.

“The topics that he does, like his ‘Adrift,’ is so different, and I feel like finding your own aesthetic is so important. And I like that UNC facilitated that,” said sophomore Danielle Gladstone.

Alper's speech not only inspires current students and staff, but also helps spread the word about UNC’s Sloane Art library.

“Events like this help to highlight collections that are blocked and not necessarily accessible and not known to the broader community,” said Joshua Hockensmith,  an art library technical assistant. “We try to do events that draw people and make them aware of those collections and also the art library in general.”

The event is also very timely as it aligns with the Click Photography Festival that is happening in the Triangle area.

“All over the area there’s a lot of photography related events happening," said Alice Whiteside, head of the art library. "We wanted to showcase some of the things in our collection with members of the community.”

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