Truly good photos are taken so you can almost smell them, said photographer Lali Khalid.

Khalid is one of three recipients of the 45th annual Light Work Grants, along with Trevor Clement and Reka Resinger. The work of this year’s recipients will be shown in an exhibition running from Aug. 26 to Oct. 17 in the Light Work Hallway Gallery, with an Oct. 11 reception.

As one of the longest-running photography grants in the country, the Light Work Grants’ primary focus is to spotlight artists from central New York. The $3,000 grant is commonly used by recipients to pursue creative endeavors, said Cjala Surratt, Light Work’s promotions coordinator.

Khalid’s grant is allowing her to travel to New York City to photograph immigrants from Muslim countries. As an immigrant herself, she said she bases a lot of her work on home and identity.

“You are always seen as an outsider,” she said. Her self-portraits are inspired by homeland, identity and culture, as she uses documentary photography to expose her own life and truth.

Surratt said the exhibition is a time and place to celebrate their work. She added that the recipients’ work will also be featured in Contact Sheet, Light Works’ photography publication, giving them an opportunity to expand their platform.

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Clement, who is based in Syracuse, describes himself as a successful failure. He began as a musician and started practicing photography while in school.

He said that through photography, he has tried to match his work to the “intensity and satisfaction I found playing in a violent, hardcore punk band. I understood where the goalpost was — going hard, going for pain.”

Clement expressed that the theme of empathy is embodied within his work. Winning the grant has helped him achieve his mission of empathy, he said, as the exhibition will allow people to connect with the photographers and experience those emotions collectively.

“It’s like music,” Clement said, “you can write all these songs, but in the end, you want to play them and have that impact and connection.”

Courtesy of Lali Khalid

Resinger, whose work is inspired by her Hungarian heritage, said she hopes that her photographs are able to interest viewers, even if they don’t directly relate to the subject matter.

She said in an email that she hopes for her work to replicate the way a book written in the 1800s “can captivate the reader’s attention and draw them into a world so far from their own.”

Courtesy of Reka Resinger

Resinger uses a 4-inch by 5-inch camera to depict a variety of scenes of Hungarian life, with the goal of preserving the culture and bringing it to the Light Work gallery. She said since receiving the grant, it has given her a confidence boost along with finding a sense of community.

The upcoming exhibition will be a place for members of the central New York community to explore the worlds that the three grant recipients have captured.

“Something about pain experienced collectively is kind of beautiful and strangely magical,” said Clement. “My job as an artist is to keep the world magical in a way.”

Published on August 26, 2019 at 9:15 am