Michael Weinstein

Straight photography is all in the framing, and Janina Ciezadlo proves that point in her chiaroscuro studies that transform her backyard into a dense foliage-filled enchanted forest by eliminating anything that would undermine its magnificence. Ciezadlo's images bring us back to childhood, when we sought out shaded recesses that placed us in a world that existed for ourselves, apart from the demands of adults, and beckon us to recapture those feelings anywhere we are by framing with our naked eyes. Ciezadlo counterpoints her black-and-white stills with a twenty-minute video of the stream of traffic on the Eisenhower expressway that brings the flowing power of industrial life to a peak of beauty—something that we can also experience without a camera whenever we have the chance. Ciezadlo teaches us that everything is beautiful in its own way, if we are willing to suspend our habitual moral viewpoint for a moment and simply feast our eyes, as she does.

Janina Ciezadlo shows at Gosia Koscielak Gallery, 1646 North Bosworth, (847)858-1540. Through August 30. (2007-08-14)

Also by Michael Weinstein

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