Jodi Spiegel Arthur
After Quakertown native Hannah Bohrer posted a series of striking photographs on Instagram, one of her college professors encouraged her to enter one into an upcoming juried exhibition at the Michener Art Museum.
Bohrer, a senior photography student at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, wasn’t certain the photographs fit in with the subject matter – “Essential Work.”
But, after considering it, she decided to enter her work.
“I thought about how the family unit has changed, and parents have had to become teachers and coaches and anything else their children might need in addition to being parents,” the 23-year-old said.
The jurors for the exhibition – “Essential Work 2020: A Community Portrait” – clearly agreed.
Bohrer’s arresting photograph – of a family donning gas masks while sitting on a blanket in the woods, listening to the mother reading a story – “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs – was one of 25 chosen for the show from among more than 200 submitted.
“I looked at what a family photo shoot would look like during a pandemic,” the lifelong Quakertown resident said when asked how she came to photograph her sister and brother-in-law and their four children taking part in a seemingly normal activity while wearing gas masks.
Bohrer said she found and provided the gas masks, utilized her favorite book from childhood, and helped pick out the outfits for the family, who posed for the black and white photograph in Nockamixon State Park.
“I wanted it to feel like they were really listening and having a family picnic in the woods,” Bohrer said.
The graduate of The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School said she has been interested in photography for the past 10 years; she learned by watching a family friend who is a photographer.
Bohrer said she is interested in both fine art and editorial photography.
“I really want to use my art to create awareness and start conversations (about subjects) that people might not be willing to talk about, and (to) do that through visual storytelling,” she said. “I really enjoy art like this, that makes people stop and think.”
Bohrer’s senior thesis is called “The (In)visible War.” It’s about “individuals and their lives living with mental illness.” The project’s aim is to bring awareness to the issue of mental health and provide resources to those who are struggling.
“I want people to be inspired by my work to tell stories and to start conversations about difficult subjects to help other people and create a more accepting world in the future,” Bohrer said.
To view Bohrer’s senior thesis, visit theinvisiblewarproject.com. To view Bohrer’s photograph, “Peculiar Family,” visit the Michener Museum, at 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, now through July 11.
The exhibition also includes photographs by Zimra Chorney, Kylie Cooper, Taylor Ecker, Michael Freeman, Max Friedenberg, Linda, Gaye Harley, Riley Joslin, Bob Kelly, the Rev. Catherine D. Kerr, Christina Kimmel, Anna Kurtz, Lisa J. Levin, Lisa McGovern, Charles Mintzer, Kristin Moore, Gerard O’Malley, Lisa Lacroce Patterson, Shawn Reid, Heidi Roux, Henry Rowan, and Pili X.
In addition to those photographs, there is a slideshow of an additional 35 images, which were next on the jurors’ selection list.
Jurors were: Ruben Christie, former vice president, African American Museum of Bucks County; Laura Turner Igoe, Ph.D., curator of American Art, Michener Art Museum; and Marlene Pray, MEd, community organizer, director/founder, Planned Parenthood’s The Rainbow Room.
For information, visit MichenerArtMuseum.org or call 215-340-9800.
jarthur@buckscountyherald.com
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