Online Photo Exchange Focuses on Communication
Students Bring Together Art and Technology
BY KARI WETHINGTON

Photographers, take note: the Oberlin Photo Exchange has arrived. The Photo Exchange, more dotingly referred to as OPEx, enjoyed a Feb. 5 debut at its online location: www.oberlin.edu/~opex. Born over Winter Term, OPEx is the creative production of sophomores Ian Bergman, Will Goldstein and Claire Nereim. 
“The motivation behind OPEx was kind of an ‘Oh, no one’s doing that, so let’s try it’ thing,” said Bergman, the site’s co-editor, who is also in charge of the group’s college relations. “We saw that a lot of the forums for displaying art on campus really are quite limited, and that unless a student is in a photo class, there’s really no way to share ideas with others. So we thought we’d create a web site to cover these bases.”

For such a new website, OPEx has covered a lot of ground. Only three weeks old, the group has already gathered and displayed the portfolios of six students in the area of their website termed the “Galleries.” These portfolios present a wide range of photographic style, theme and imagination. 

OPEx has gained significant interest on campus through its weekly contests. Junior Jonathan Linch, a visual arts major, submitted a portfolio of work entitled “Biological Tissue Samples,” which won OPEx’s “Best Portfolio” contest. Linch’s project was “intended to examine the way scientific process objectifies and compartmentalizes its subjects.” The colored prints might be deemed grotesque by mainstream culture but are provocative and thoughtful in their immodest portrayal of the body as object(s). 
By giving every contest a new theme, OPEx has ensured the diversity of its galleries. Linch said, “A great thing about OPEx is its support for all types of photography, from snapshots to fine-art, silver-based to digital.”
The Photo Exchange is still an organizational toddler, but is already filling a niche that has long been vacant in Oberlin. “The Oberlin community desperately needs an online gallery that is regularly maintained, open to students, staff and community members and allows all types of art,” Linch said. “OPEx is unique in its ability to specialize in one area. As a photographer, I am very excited to see a forum devoted to this art form.”
One of OPEx’s major goals is to open up the lines of communication within the photography community. “Any day now we’ll be putting up the ‘eXchange’ section, which is where people will get to post more than just pictures: articles, ideas, comments, anything,” Bergman said. “We’ll even have an ads section where people can advertise for models or anything else they need.”

OPEx is currently going through the process of becoming a chartered student organization. Professor of photography John Pearson has agreed to serve as the group’s advisor. With a charter, the web-based group can enjoy real-life amenities like a mailbox in Wilder and stable funds. 
The web-based format of OPEx provides the group with an ability to provoke dynamic community-wide creative interactions. “There are already plenty of great publications on campus that feature photos in print,” Goldstein noted. “Unfortunately, printed publications aren’t nearly as flexible as a website. A website can be constantly updated, is much more user-friendly and is available not only to people on campus, but to anyone in the world that has access to the internet.” 
With that “doors-wide-open” philosophy, OPEx has begun its journey through the complex jungles of art at Oberlin. The future will only bring more growth for the group and opportunities for the photography community.