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Last year, Dan Bauer, professor of anthropology, displayed his passion for expressive art at the Riverside Festival of the Arts in downtown Easton. His photographs, taken on a trip to Ethiopia in 2002, included one of a man holding his son and a picture of him when he was his son’s age. That photo, Bauer believes, is what awarded him honorable mention.
This year, Bauer brought photos to the festival that he captured on a trip to China, which were taken along the Silk Road, the most important connection between the Orient and the West before sea travel to India was discovered. His collection earned him first prize, $500.
“As an anthropologist, I try to communicate something about other cultures, and video and photography are excellent tools for doing that,” says Bauer,who also has photos displayed in the Farinon Center. “Only in the last five years have I gotten back to it as an expressive art form.”
At age 15, Bauer had his first photo published in Popular Mechanics, which accompanied an article on how to find a good vacation home. As an undergraduate, he took a photography course and did a series of photos on San Francisco at night.
Since then, he has taken photographs of many different places, including Africa, Latin America, and Tibet, and people, including cartoonist and Peanuts creator Charles Schultz, silent film star Buster Keaton, and director/producer/actor Alfred Hitchcock.
Bauer says he enjoys photography because it’s something he can actually accomplish, unlike painting, which he hasn’t mastered.
“It combines my interest in expressive art with my interest in technology,” he adds. “I like to deal with technology, and photography allows you to interpret the world using technological devices while remaining accessible to everyone.”
For the last 15 years, Bauer has led Lafayette’s Technology Clinic, in which a team of students representing different majors and disciplines tackles a problem for businesses, governments, or non-profit groups. As part of the revitalization of the North Third Street area at the base of College Hill, the Tech Clinic recently developed recommendations for further development.
“Part of the project includes a funicular connecting the College to the downtown area,” he says. “We are also working with Easton and Phillipsburg to create a development plan for the two cities and the riverfront. Riverside Park, where the Festival of the Arts is held, is a key part of that project.”