The department of art and design kicked off this semester’s Visiting Artist Talk series with a Murray State alum’s 9-year photography project.
The Clara Eagle Gallery hosted alum Fred DiGiovanni on Tuesday, Aug. 27. The gallery’s curator, Professor T. Micheal Martin, introduced the presentation with a brief highlight of his career and travels after graduating from Murray State in 1971.
“It’s always good to bring back an alum,” Martin said.
DiGiovanni’s “Hands of Time Cento Anni” showcases 13 subjects ages 100 to 106. Each photograph focuses on the subject’s hands, often placed over an important possession of theirs. These include a Kenyan military general’s cane, a quilter’s handiwork and an art history professor’s Italian Renaissance book.
DiGiovanni began the project when his aunt, Maria DiGiovanni, turned 1oo years old in 2014. He photographed her two more times for the project at ages 101 and 102. In the following years, he took pictures of other 100-year-olds.
“People would say, ‘I have an aunt or a cousin who is 100 years old, would you take their picture?’” DiGiovanni said. “I remember one subject when I called her daughter; she said… ‘Today is her 106th birthday, and she’s (on vacation) in Florida.’ I reached out the next year, and she was visiting New York.”
“Hands of Time Cento Anni” reached its conclusion in 2023 with his uncle, Ben Geremia, at 100 years old. Geremia received a Purple Heart for his service in World War II. It was featured in the picture along with the 48-star American Flag he fought under.
DiGiovanni separated his presentation into three sections: highlights of his early works as a student and traveling photographer, the story of the “Hands of Time Cento Anni” project and a retrospective of his career.
He said he wanted to be an artist from a young age, but rather than go directly into life as a “starving artist,” he chose to teach art in schools. He attended Murray State as a double major in art and art education. During his time at the University, he studied with the gallery’s namesake, Clara Eagle.
He presented the art education program’s first single medium senior show with 47 photographs, many of which he took in Land Between the Lakes.
“For me, it’s full circle,” he said. “It’s my second senior show. I did my first as a senior in college and my second as a senior in life.”
After graduating from Murray State, he taught middle school art in Louisville until retiring in 1999. He went to the University of Louisville for graduate school and studied at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography.
DiGiovanni shared more stories from the “Hands of Time Cento Anni” series and the works that influenced it. He said hands have a common theme of artworks throughout time, featuring notable photographers like Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston. In a graduation program at the University of Louisville, DiGiovanni photographed the hands of a man who repaired watches and played string instruments.
He concluded his presentation with a look back through his artistic career. His presentation featured photographs from around the world in locations like Tahiti, Denali National Park in Alaska, Forbidden City in Beijing and Adirondack Park in upstate New York.
Another piece included in the presentation was a picture of the Twin Towers that he took in 1993 through a doorway on Ellis Island. DiGiovanni said this was his most memorable work. This photograph has been featured in the World Trade Center 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
“Hands of Time Cento Anni” will be on display in the Mary Ed Mecoy Hall of Clara Eagle until Oct. 17. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Information about other exhibitions and upcoming events can be found on the gallery’s Facebook page and Instagram account.
