Art Gallery Presents “Underexposed” Exhibition
Beginning March 8

The exhibition of “Underexposed” features photography by Chico artist Aaron Draper, and opens Wednesday, March 8 through Thursday March 30. A gallery reception will take place on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 from 4 – 6 p.m. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served and a Butte College Music student will perform from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. The Butte College Art Gallery is located on the first floor of the Arts Building on the main campus of Butte College, 3536 Butte Campus Dr., Oroville, CA. Current gallery hours are Monday - Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
 
Underexposed is comprised of 20 color photographs, printed on aluminum that feature homeless subjects that live in Northern California. The portraits are lit with commercial lighting and posed in various environments that depict important aspects of their culture. Using low camera angles and a Rembrandt lighting style, the images challenge the stereotypes of the homeless community and welcome a close viewing of the textures of their faces and bodies and most importantly, their stories.
 
Draper’s career in visual story telling began as a columnist and features editor for a daily newspaper. He developed an interest in photography; he especially enjoyed the relationship between text and art. He received his MFA Degree in commercial photography from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in Dec. 2014.
 
He refined his project on the homeless, Underexposed, and presented it as his master’s thesis. He began this project while working in Modesto, CA. This series helped him view photography as a vehicle for social activism. Draper has been humbled at the reception of this project. After he was interviewed in 2015 by Taylor Kubota of Seeker, A Discovery Digital Network, the project went viral and has been shared on more than 200 websites. It’s been translated into fifteen languages to date and it’s been featured in a dozen different magazines around the world.
 
Draper attended Bucharest Photo Week, Romania’s largest photography convention, in September of 2015. He spoke at the convention, hosted a lighting workshop and exhibited his series of homeless photos. In October of that same year he was invited to speak in Seattle at PIX 2015, hosted by DPReview.
 
He’s currently finishing a book based on curriculum he’s shared with his students titled Technique + Intuition: Photo Fundamentals for the Visual Artist. Along with his commercial photography business, he teaches Intro, Intermediate and Advanced Photography courses at California State University, Chico and just finished developing a Social Media Photography course for general education.
 
As a way to encourage and help photographers of all levels, Draper created a blog called ProfessionalPhotoCritique.org that gives feedback on photos submitted from all over the world.
 
Draper is known for his lighting techniques. With a love of light and a passion for narrative, his students and clients enjoy his sense of humor and his ability to connect with them. Draper feels that as artists, we have an opportunity to challenge the status quo and encourage social change.
 
For more information, visit Butte College Art Gallery Facebook page: www.facebook.com/butteartgallery.