Curated by GoggleWorks’ Gallery Manager Erica Hutchins, Of Our Time: A Collection of Portraits in Analog brings together three regional photographers with a selection of work that celebrates the enduring beauty of portraiture. Working within a range of traditional photographic formats, photographers Nick Borolla, Isa Brito, and Marcus Natt work with the visual exchange of light, shadow, and emotion through the lens of manual film cameras.
In an age dominated by digital immediacy, this exhibition invites viewers to slow down and appreciate the intentionality and craft of analog portraiture. Discover the art of analog photography with its distinct textures, grain, and tonal richness, bringing a tactile quality to life within each image. By looking deeper into each photograph, we can find stories that reveal intimate glimpses into the lives, identities, and emotions of its subjects.
Of Our Time: A Collection of Portraits in Analog, aims to showcase a poignant reflection on the individuals, stories, and moments that define our era, captured through the timeless medium of film.
Join us for the opening reception on Friday, January 17, 2025 from 6-8pm in the Schmidt Gallery.
Register for a Tintype Portrait session with Marcus Natt on Saturday, January 18.
About the Artists
Marcus Natt
Marcus Natt is a self-taught photographer working with analog processes including medium and large format film, wet plate collodion (or tintypes) and darkroom printing. His work takes inspiration from photographers (Gordon Parks, Judith Joy Ross and Andrea Modica) and as well as film (Spike Lee, Ingmar Bergman, Night of the Hunter, Killer of Sheep), aiming to reflect upon artistry, race, youth, struggle and change. Like his subjects, Natt’s process is rooted in a moment, yet both artist and subject bring history to each piece, one that hopefully carries a message forward. Likewise, Natt brings tradition to the modern day with his practice, delicate as it is: every flaw, difficulty and frustration is on display, no matter if it’s his or his subjects’. Moving forward, Natt will focus on photographing strangers and publishing photo books. The works in this exhibition are intimate portraits of friends (come and gone), family and friends of friends, all made between 2015 and 2024. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Natt now lives and works in Northeast Pennsylvania.
Isa Queiroz de Brito
Photography has been a transformative mode of expression for artist Isa Brito. At 20 years old, she bought an SLR camera with the first money she saved shortly after moving to the United States. With the original ICP library and darkroom as her home base, Isa fully immersed herself in photographing the streets of New York and beyond — along the way she fell in love with the medium format. Isa’s black-and-white photographs have been featured in [publications], and in her 2012 solo show *Passengers* at Milk Gallery. From covering historical events as a photojournalist, to documenting her personal life and passion for exploring the world, that first SLR camera has always been there, a faithful tool to bring forth the human condition as she sees it.
Nick Borolla
Nick Borolla is a Philly-born photographer based out of Lancaster, PA. With a primary focus on film photography, Borolla’s style and instinctive approach comes from his earlier years as a skateboard videographer. From utilizing a fisheye – or wide lens – for candid street/event photography to clean compositions of landscapes and portraiture, it all comes from a familiar place and feeling for him.
A list of some of his influences include Mike Blabac, Matt Price, Alex Papke, Gjon Mili and his fellow street photography peers in Philly. Though most of his life has been spent in Lancaster county, the city of Philadelphia has also played an instrumental role in forging his outlook and interests
To Borolla, photography is a means to open up doors for creative freedom and expression.
Moving forward, Nick plans to focus on studio work.