Plainsboro Library presents “The Way We Live Now,” an exhibition by photographer Lionel Goodman. Comprising largely recent works, the exhibit focuses on the variety of ways in which people in different stages of life or circumstances respond to similar situations. A secondary theme of the show considers how people in separate cities respond to common urban problems in diverse ways. The art reception will be held on Sunday, April 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. with a gallery tour by Goodman at 3 p.m. The show is on view Saturday, April 4, to Thursday, April 29.
Each image in the collection is the result of the photographer’s personal filter and reflects his point of view. The photographs are arranged in groups of two or three, forming a visual commentary for the viewer. Two “Princeton Coffee House Scenes” compare college students buried in their computer screens with an octogenarian fashion plate. “Bloomberg’s New York” considers middle class New Yorkers who simply need a parking space; while two “Wall Street Occupiers” photographs portray students and workers in the same city as they protest wealth inequality — revealing what each of the subjects may be thinking. “Artist?” and“Pigeon Fancier” show how reactions to homeless people by passers-by in Paris and New York City expose something about the attitudes of the city populous itself.
Goodman, a Princeton resident, is emeritus professor of physical chemistry at Rutgers University. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for his work on why molecules have the shape that they have, using laser spectroscopy. His interest in photography began after his retirement 10 years ago, and since then he has had several one-man shows including “People, Places, Poetry, And Prose” at Pennington School in 2012 and “Some People” at Princeton University in 2013.
He has received awards for his people-oriented photographs from Phillips Mill, the Salmagundi Club in New York City, Perkins Art Center, Princeton Photography Club, and Mercer County Arts Council. His photograph “About to Depart” hangs in the Johnson & Johnson Art Museum. He was awarded First in Show at the Grounds For Sculpture Photography Exposition in 2009 and 2010, and has served as program chairman of the Princeton Photography Club for four years.
Art Exhibit, Plainsboro Public Library, 9 Van Doren Street, Plainsboro. Saturday, April 4, 10 a.m. First day for “The Way We Live Now,” an exhibit by Lionel Goodman, a photographer from Princeton. Reception on Sunday, April 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. On view to April 29. 609-275-2897. www.lmxac.org/plainsboro.
