“PHOTO SHOW LIVE”: The new lunchtime artist talk at Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) James Kerney Campus Gallery (JKCG) will feature Wendy Ewald on September 29 from noon to 1 p.m. The discussion will center around Ewald’s books “The Devil Is Leaving His Cave” and “Portraits and Dreams” as well as Ewald’s film, “Portraits and Dreams,” that aired on PBS. (Photo by Wendy Ewald)

“Photo Show Live,” the new lunchtime photography talk at Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) James Kerney Campus Gallery (JKCG) at 137 North Broad Street in Trenton, will take place September 29 from 12 to 1 p.m.

This month, Director of JKC Gallery Michael Chovan-Dalton features Wendy Ewald, an artist who has spent more than 40 years collaborating with children, families, and teachers all over the world. During this session Ewald and Chovan-Dalton will discuss Ewald’s books The Devil Is Leaving His Cave and Portraits and Dreams as well as Ewald’s film Portraits and Dreams that aired on PBS and which will be running at JKC Gallery.

“Wendy Ewald will be joining ‘Photo Show Live’ remotely while I am in JKC Gallery,” said Chovan-Dalton, “I am looking forward to discussing the details of her books and the methodology behind the creation of her film. She has an amazing story that has taken her around the U.S. and around the world.”

The film Portraits and Dreams made its national broadcast and streaming debut on the PBS documentary series POV and pov.org in 2020.  Portraits and Dreams: Photographs and Stories By Children of The Appalachians, now being republished by MACK (UK), was the result of a unique creative collaboration between Ewald and the students she taught at three elementary schools in Letcher County, Kentucky, in the 1970s. Tasked with finding authentic ways of representing the lives of these children, she gave each child a camera and followed up with interviews about their childhoods in the mountains.

The film revisits photographs created by the schoolchildren, their work as visionary photographers and the lives they have led since then.

To register for this event visit JKCGallery.online or email JKCGallery@mccc.edu.