By Brianna Holcomb
Arts and entertainment editor
The photograph is so simple. It is merely a bed with the sheets ruffled up as though someone had just gotten out of it – possibly someone was still sleeping in it. It was in black and white and you could see the light on the wall behind the bed shining through, creating a shadow of the window. For some reason this was one of my favorite photographs in the gallery.
Many of the photos in this gallery entitled “Supernxva” are very simple. The pictures range from a photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge, a man walking across a street on crutches or a young woman sitting against a black background. Every photo is simplistic, but beautiful.
Photographer Edwin Cabrera chose images like these to photograph because they capture his attention. He said that he “mostly [photographs] things that force [him] to look twice and think.”
One of those photographs that cause you to think is of a young woman looking at her reflection in a mirror, standing on the side of the street. Just like the rest of the photos, it is in black and white. The most interesting aspect of this photograph is how Cabrera took the photo of the mirror and not the young woman herself. The photograph comes off as a display of a moment in time that just happened to be captured on film.
Every photograph was taken in black and white, with no color to distract the viewer from what was going on in the photograph.
“I believe that photographing in black and white helps emphasize form and content in any photograph. It helps add more feeling to a photograph. It sets a mood and draws people into the photograph, as opposed to color,” said Cabrera.
This gallery definitely has a way of drawing in the viewer, not only with its photographs, but its title as well.
The title “Supernxva” is not only a reference to his pictures in the gallery, but to himself. Prior to being a fine arts major, Edwin majored in electrical engineering at Hofstra. He made the switch after taking a basic photography class his sophomore year and has been taking pictures for one year now. After a year of rapidly developing his skills and quickly falling in love with fine arts, Edwin felt as though it was time for him to stop concealing his work and explode.
In the future, Edwin hopes to be an influence to young kids and have people see his work on a universal level. Hopefully we see more of Edwin’s work at Hofstra as this supernova continues to grow.