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“Every professor here has been so understanding and very willing to let me go in my own creative direction,” says Meredith Miller, a senior English/art double major from Katonah, N.Y., and a graduate of John Jay High School. “If I could take what I’ve learned here and get a job in photography, that would be great.”
In her creative independent study with Edward J. Kerns, Lafayette’s Eugene H. Clapp II ’36 Professor of Art and art department head, Meredith Miller is exploring new directions in photography, using techniques she’s been interested in since high school.
Her project involves creating “photo studies of people and life,” she explains. “I’m using a process of ‘sandwiching’ negatives together to create unusual juxtapositions of environments and situations. I studied photography extensively in high school and I fell in love with it. When I was presented with the opportunity to do independent work here, I just had to follow through.”
Miller shows a flair for the discipline, Kerns says.
“Meredith is very good at photographing portraits and the human form, in particular,” he says. “She’s a very self-motivated student who has really been moving her talent forward through experimentation.
“She is also excellent in the darkroom,” Kerns continues. “In fact, the work Meredith is doing is a precursor to the type of varied multimedia programs that will eventually mark artistic activities in our new arts center downtown. Photography will play a very big part in our studios. It’s very rare for a liberal arts college of this size to offer students this kind of selection.”
Kerns is referring to Lafayette’s new arts center, a major facility with space for the College’s arts programs, a gallery for campus and community artists, and a teaching facility to benefit local high school art students. Work is under way on the center, which is located at the base of College Hill, where the campus and downtown Easton meet.
Miller credits the art faculty with having a major positive influence on her experience at Lafayette.
“Every professor here has been so understanding and very willing to let me go in my own creative direction,” she says. “If I could take what I’ve learned here and get a job in photography, that would be great.”
Another Side of Meredith
During vacations from Lafayette she volunteers in an AIDS care center at a hospital in her home area. She recently helped develop a Special Needs Plan for HIV/AIDS patients.