THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 16, 1995 TAG: 9501160074
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
When the ``little angel'' walked into the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts on Sunday, few people recognized her. She came incognito in a black velvet frock with pink satin bows, leaving her diaphanous white garb and wings at home.
Once inside the galleries, where photos taken by local African Americans wereon display, 3-year-old Coreena Coleman spied an image that was very familiar.
Herself, as a cherub.
``Are you a real angel?'' a guest asked her.
``Yes,'' Coreena said, matter-of-factly.
Coreena's portrait was made into a poster and graces the cover of the exhibit's catalog, ``Open Shutters: Photographic Impressions by African-Americans in Hampton Roads.''
Several hundred people gathered for the Sunday afternoon opening reception, including participants, their friends and family members.
The ``Open Shutters'' project involved 35 novice photographers from six predominantly black neighborhoods - Seatack and Bayside in Virginia Beach, Park Place and Huntersville in Norfolk, Portsmouth's Cavalier Manor and Aberdeen Gardens in Hampton. Each novice has two photos in the exhibit.
Also, six local and four national professional photographers helped train the novices during a monthlong shooting session that began in mid-September. Prints by these pros also are in the show.
``There's a lot of truth in what Coreena was depicting,'' said Sonnie Blaize, the Seatack resident who took her picture, which he titled ``My Little Angel of Light.''
When he photographed Coreena, he was thinking of her innocence and potential and the simple joys of life, aspects he also would apply to Seatack.
``There's a lot of genius in Seatack, a lot of positive activity. This won't be the end of trying to depict what this community is all about,'' Blaize said.
Milbert Orlando Brown, a staff photographer with the Chicago Tribune and an ``Open Shutters'' instructor, approached Blaize with a poster.
``Excuse me, Mr. Blaize. I want you to autograph this. You are such a magnificent photographer,'' said Brown, turning so Blaize could use his back as a writing surface.
``Good work, man. Beautiful work.''
Blaize smiled.
Washington Post staff photographer Craig Herndon, also a project instructor, spoke to the group during a recognition ceremony. The project ``has that artistic ambiguity,'' he said. ``You open the shutter of the camera, yeah. But once it's open, you can see in - and you can see out.
``African Americans in this community have given the public a view of their lives. But they have also taken the time to recognize what's important to them.
``And the answer is: their lives.''
The way ``Open Shutters'' took root in the participants' lives can be compared to a darkroom process, said Joseph Purvis of Huntersville, a novice photographer.
``It's like developing a picture. You take that small white piece of paper, dip it in solution, and a picture begins to take shape,'' said Purvis, 71.
At first, Purvis said, ``I thought it was a waste of time. But now, rather than just walking down the street and taking a picture, I have a sense of what I'm doing.''
That voice inside ``that says, `You can't do it,' is put to shame. The proof is in the finished product. Because I did it.''
Purvis stood proudly by his photographs - one of a woman and her booth of Afrocentric items at Portsmouth's Umoja Festival, and another of two new Huntersville houses.
``My theme was to show what was, what is and what could possibly be'' in the Huntersville neighborhood where he was lived since 1965. He photographed Umoja, because it is a model for festivals now being established for Huntersville.
``Are you Mr. Purvis?'' asked Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf, admiring his photographs. Purvis told her he photographed the new houses ``because they replace the run-down apartments, so the community can be proud.''
``You remind me of what Bobby Kennedy said of his brother John,'' Oberndorf said. `` `Some men dream and say why. Some men dream and say why not.' You're giving a perfect example of what can be.''
Beatrice Jennings, a Huntersville community liaison for ``Open Shutters,'' sees the project as ``the beginning - not only of building homes, but of building people.
She felt it was important ``for the outer community to see some of the things going on from the inside.'' Plus, the project's collaborative aspect ``shows we can build partnerships to make things better.
``This is hope.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Richard L. Dunston
An artist at her work
Shana Goodman, 15, was among the photographers displaying their
craft at "Open Shutters" at the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts
on Sunday.
B\W photo
"My Little Angel of Light" Coreena Coleman, 3, the subject of Sonnie
Blaize's photo, attended the opening - without her costume.
THE EXHIBIT
What: ``Open Shutters: Photographic Impressions by
African-Americans in Hampton Roads,'' an exhibit featuring novice
and professional photographers.
Where: Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, 2200 Parks Ave.
When: Through March 12.
Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday 10
a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
Cost: Free
Call: 425-0000
by CNB