Exhibition Installations and Openings

Chambers' Photo Coverage of the Mayor's Office and the City of Providence, Rhode Island (1985-1990) June 20, 2021 Tom R. Chambers was Mayoral and City Photographer for Providence, Rhode Island (1985-1990. He made thousands of exposures over a period of six years, and his coverage (negatives and prints) now resides at City Archives, City Hall, Providence, Rhode Island.  Chambers was the first official City/Mayoral Photographer for Providence. Several images, which were exhibited with others as  "Retro Providence: 1985-1990"  at City Archives in 2016 follow: Chambers put together  "Hot City"  in 1989 based on his coverage of  Providence ,  Rhode Island  as Personal Photographer to  Mayor Joseph R. Paolino, Jr.  and City Photographer. At the time, it offered an interesting aspect to historical, visual documentation. Usually, this type of display shows past generations involved in various activities, and the viewer can only attempt to relate to what is perceived

  Dyer Street Portraiture May 18, 2021 This photo documentary project focuses on the denizens of a military street -  Dyer  - in  El Paso ,  Texas , 1983. The photo sessions are staged in the sense that the subjects are posed in relation to their surroundings. A 20mm lens (extreme wide angle) is used to "condense" the view and show the backdrop/background. The subjects' posture and expression come across as natural, but their "look" is manipulated through constant encouragement. They're not smiling, and in Chambers' opinion, a documentary portrait should not include this kind of expression. As soon as a subject smiles for the camera, he or she breaks character. This action dilutes the nature of the image, and it becomes nothing more than a standard studio portrait. Exhibitions: "Dyer Street Portraiture" (solo show), PhotoForum Online Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, U.S.A., 1997. "Dyer Street Portraiture&quo

  People to People -  May 18, 2021 Chambers had the opportunity to collaborate with Choi Ok-soo, a South Korean documentary photographer, by putting together a two-person show, "People to People" for the Kumho Art Center, Gwangju, South Korea. This was the first time in Gwangju for a Korean and American photographer to come together to offer an East/West perspective on the Korean People and Culture. The project resides as part of the center's Permanent Collection. Chambers' photo sessions are staged in the sense that the subjects are posed in relation to their surroundings. A 20mm lens (extreme wide angle) is used to "condense" the view, and show the backdrop/background. The subjects' posture and expression come across as natural, but their "look" is manipulated through constant encouragement. They're not smiling, and in Chambers' opinion, a documentary portrait should not include this kind of expression. As soon as a subject smiles for

Descendants 350 -  May 19, 2021 This project re: Descendants of many of the  First Settlers of Rhode Island  pays tribute to the trials and tribulations that their Ancestors were subjected to during the early to middle  1600s . It offers a unique look and study of the State's early history as it relates to images of Descendants (contemporaries) as icons or symbols to pay tribute to and talk about their Ancestors' (First Settlers') contributions through text extracted from The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island (and other sources).  This contemporary approach resurrects the past through the present: discussion of Ancestral contributions to the State's development via historical text and visualization of their Descendants, today (1986), through documentary photography to bring forth those founding bloodlines, and to offer to the viewer a likeness or similarity of features between the Descendants and their Ancestors. This project was funded by Providence 350, Inc. as