Location: Main Level Galleries
December 5, 2025–March 21, 2026
Guest curated by Rik Hine, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Washburn University
What are you paying attention to, why, and for how long? In a culture dominated by social media platforms, answering the first question is easy, but not so for the second and third. This is no accident in an era that cultural critics have dubbed "surveillance capitalism," wherein commercial success is built on attracting our attention for profit. In this "attention economy," we’re led in to letting our senses drown in a succession of images as if, somewhere just downstream, there’s one that will satisfy our search. We’re surrendering our ability for sustained seeing in favour of surface looking.
The solution to these issues isn’t simple, but this space and the photographs in it offer a sanctuary; a respite for you to replenish your attentional reserves and "rewire" your ability for sustained concentration. It might seem ironic that this involves more images, but the aim is to find one and focus on it. What do you see once you resist the urge to scroll? What about light, for instance? Is there one main light source? Where is it coming from and does it make some areas darker than others? Are the contrasts it produces sharp or diffuse? What about lines, and how has the photographer used them to frame other elements of the scene? How do your answers to these questions relate to scale and proportion? Are there aspects of what’s depicted that are echoed elsewhere in the scene? What meaning, if any, does the photograph offer you?
The photographs in this exhibition have been chosen for their ability to reward ongoing engagement. Economic or not, that’s a return worth attending to.
Peter Turnley, Ferry en route to the Prince Islands near Istanbul, Turkey, 2012, archival pigment print. Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University.
