“LOSS EVENT”: Ryann Casey’s photography exhibit, based on the U.S. National Park system, is at the James Kerney Campus Gallery at Mercer County Community College’s Trenton Campus through September 7. Each of her photos features two prints side by side that explore the intersection of personal loss and environmental degradation through the filter of memory and grief.

Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) James Kerney Campus Gallery (JKCG) in downtown Trenton has announced the opening of “Loss Event,” an exhibit by photographer Ryann Casey, who has created a series based in the U.S. National Park system. The show runs August 1 through Friday, September 7. A community reception and artist’s talk will be held Thursday, September 6 from 5 to 7 p.m., with the talk to start at 6 p.m.

Approximately 13 of Casey’s large-scale, stereo card-style photos, measuring 30×40 inches, will be on display. Each of her photos features two prints side by side that explore the intersection of personal loss and environmental degradation through the filter of memory and grief.

JKCG Gallery Director and Curator Michael Chovan-Dalton, coordinator of the MCCC Photography and Digital Imaging program, said stereo cards were a 19th century technique that allowed viewers to see images in 3D. “Casey’s format pays tribute to great Western landscape photographers of the 19th and early 20th century like Timothy O’Sullivan, Carleton Watkins, and Edward Muybridge,” he said. “This double view of a scene allows her to use the dual image style to share personal and public grief in the same place and the same time.”

Chovan-Dalton notes that Casey’s work comes from a deeply personal place. “She lost a close friend who worked for the National Park Service, someone who inspired her love of the outdoors and these monuments to nature,” he said. “At the time she was grieving that loss, the newly appointed secretary of the interior, Ryan Zinke, began reopening public land to oil, gas, and coal exploration, while decreasing the size of public spaces declared by the previous administration.”

Casey is a Philadelphia/New Jersey-based artist, curator, and organizer. She has exhibited in and around Philadelphia and New York City. She works as an adjunct professor of photography, art history, and critical theory in New Jersey, including at MCCC. She holds a BA in photography with a minor in gender studies from Stockton University and an MFA/MS in photography and art history from Pratt Institute.

JKCG is located in MCCC’s Trenton Hall, 137 North Broad Street, across the street from the Kerney Building. Hours for this exhibit are Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. More information, visit www.mccc.edu/JKCgallery.