The spliced and multiplied imagery in Stephen Geffre’s artwork compels us to marvel at how these photographs were made. Dynamic diagonal forms pull at us, forcing us to enter into the work. But what speaks to us through these images? How are we supposed to "read" them? For Geffre, who struggles with a learning disability called “dysgraphia,” his artwork is his best form of communication. Some people, Geffre suggests, “think of a photograph as a well written sentence that explains exactly what the author intended.” This is not true of his work: “I move the words around, change the punctuation and jumble the sequence…yet I always decode the photographs with simple direct titles.” These mundane titles, however, do not provide any profound understanding of his images. Rather, they rekindle awe for the complex art-making process, which is what makes Geffre’s art so visually stimulating and open-ended for the viewer.

Geffre works as the Public Relations photographer for Augsburg College and also runs his own freelance photography business. His photographs have been shown locally and regionally in numerous solo and group exhibitions. This past May Geffre was featured in a live broadcast about his photography on 89.3 The Current.

All events at the Augsburg Art Galleries are free and open to the general pubic.

Christensen Center Art Gallery
Augsburg College
22nd Avenue South and 7 ½ Street

Gallery Hours:
Monday - Sunday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

For more gallery information call 612-330-1524.

Image caption:
Canoes 7 (det.), 2004
B/W color C-print