August Gallery Night with Jim Lassoie
Fractured Realities:
Perspectives on Nurture, Nature, and the Human Condition
"It's not that something different is seen—but that one sees differently.”– C. G. Jung
An Exhibition of Photographs by Jim Lassoie
After nearly seventy years of making photographs, I turned more deliberately toward photographic art following my retirement from Cornell University in 2021. While my camera remains focused on the observable world, my interests increasingly lie beyond simple description.
The photographs in this exhibition explore what I call fractured realities—moments when ordinary subjects suggest meanings that extend beyond what is immediately visible. Landscapes, weathered buildings, birds in flight, found objects, and elements of nature become metaphors for memory, aging, loss, resilience, connection, and renewal. These images are less concerned with documenting a scene than with inviting viewers to consider what else it might represent.
This approach reflects the insight of photographer Minor White, who wrote in 1946, “One does not photograph something simply for what it is, but for what else it is.”
Some images in this exhibition may appear familiar; others may seem unsettling, ambiguous, or, as several viewers have remarked, “a little strange.” I welcome that response. The work seeks a balance between clarity and mystery, observation and imagination, encouraging viewers to pause, reflect, and discover their own meanings within the frame.
Ultimately, these photographs are reflections on nature, nurture, and the human condition—and on our shared journey through a world that is often more layered, fragile, and mysterious than it first appears.
The show will be available for viewing from 8am to 8pm in August.
This program is made possible in part with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and NYS Legislature, administered by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.
