At first glance, what’s striking about the black and white images in Photographic Portraits Berlin is how closely the people and settings resemble urban scenes in big American cities, complete with graffiti-covered walls, baseball team caps and faces of African heritage. An art professor at Madision’s Edgewood College, photographer Alan Luft grew up in Wisconsin and is keenly aware of German heritage in dialogue with a rapidly changing world. Luft is no tourist with a camera slung around his neck, but prefers to establish rapport with his subjects and enter their milieu.
An opening reception for an exhibition based on Photographic Portraits Berlin will be held 4:30-7:30 p.m., April 27 at Edgewood College Gallery. German studies professor Stephen Brockmann will speak and Luft will sign copies of the book. The exhibit runs through May 21.
