MTSU‘s Baldwin Photographic Gallery is showcasing three students’ senior projects from the university’s Photography Capstone course alongside their peers’ work in the annual Student Photography Show.

Projects by seniors Spencer Bird, Thomas Meadow and Makayla Stovall are the focus of the new exhibit in the Baldwin Gallery, which opened shortly before spring 2021 classes ended.

The gallery, part of the university’s College of Media and Entertainment, will be open to guests once again on Monday, May 17, when MTSU’s summer 2021 classes begin. The student exhibit concludes Sept. 9.

In the exhibit, Bird, a video and film production major from Medon, Tennessee, who is scheduled to graduate this weekend, addresses the effect American isolationism is having on individuals and how it can impede progress in his project, called “American Ego.”

Meadow, a photo major from Murfreesboro who plans to graduate this summer, focuses on how truth can lead us to revise our memories — or not – in his project, “The Longing.”

Stovall, a photography major from Jackson, Tennessee, who’s on track to graduate this fall, is reimagining the future through a Black lens in “The Future Begins,” her project that reunites African Americans with the cultures from which they were taken.

This image from MTSU senior photography major Spencer Bird’s Photography Capstone project, “American Ego,” is one of three showcased in the annual Student Photography Show at the university’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery through Sept. 9. The Medon, Tennessee, native’s work addresses the effect American isolationism is having on individuals and how it can impede progress. (Photo courtesy of Spencer Bird)

During their semester in the Photography Capstone course, MTSU seniors use the skills and concepts they’ve developed to create a project, in consultation with their professor, that will become a part of the Baldwin Gallery’s annual student photography exhibit. The course is generally offered only during spring semesters.

MTSU photography majors currently earn a Bachelor of Science in Media and Entertainment with a photography concentration through the college’s Department of Media Arts.

This image from MTSU senior photography major Thomas Meadow’s Photography Capstone project, “The Longing,” is one of three showcased in the annual Student Photography Show at the university’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery through Sept. 9. The Murfreesboro native’s work focuses on how truth can lead us to revise our memories. (Photo courtesy of Thomas Meadow)

In April, however, the university’s Board of Trustees approved an independent bachelor’s degree for the program, creating a Bachelor of Science in Photography. MTSU can begin offering the new bachelor’s degree this summer with the approval of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

More information about MTSU’s photography program is available at www.mtsu.edu/programs/photography.

The exhibit will be on display weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., when classes are in session, through Sept. 9, in Room 269 of the university’s Bragg Media and Entertainment Building at 1735 Blue Raider Drive. The Baldwin Gallery is located at the top of the stairwell in the building’s central courtyard.

Gallery guests must wear masks and observe appropriate distancing and other posted MTSU health safety protocols during their visit.

This image from MTSU senior photography major Makyala Stovall’s Photography Capstone project, “The Future Begins,” is one of three showcased in the annual Student Photography Show at the university’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery through Sept. 9. The Jackson, Tennessee, native’s work is reimagining the future through a Black lens by reuniting African Americans with the cultures from which they were taken. (Photo courtesy of Makayla Stovall)

A campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking2020. Off-campus guests visiting the Baldwin Gallery should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

Public tours can be arranged by contacting gallery curator Shannon Randol, who also is an assistant professor of photography in the Department of Media Arts, at shannon.randol@mtsu.edu.

For more information about MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery, visit http://baldwinphotogallery.com or www.facebook.com/BaldwinPhotoGallery. To learn more about the College of Media and Entertainment, visit https://mtsu.edu/media.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)