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Dateline: 3/17/2008

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE
Dale Goodwin, Director
Peter Tormey, Associate Director

Professor Williams to Open Photo Exhibit March 20

Gonzaga University special education Professor Randy Williams will exhibit 25 photographs of England, Wales, Edinburgh, Scotland, and Dublin, Ireland taken in his first trip abroad in 2006. The exhibition is free and opens to the public on Thursday, March 20.

The exhibition will remain open through the undergraduate commencement on Mother's Day, May 11 and may be viewed Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the Rosauer Center for Education (714 E. Boone Ave.). The photos are displayed by the north and south entrances, as well as on the second floor across from the Students’ Lounge.

A photo in Randy Williams' Exhibition that opens March 20 at the Rosauer Center for Education at Gonzaga.
A photo in Randy Williams' Exhibition
The exhibition is a reflection of varying landscapes, culture, and the people of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Williams’ ancestry is half-Welsh, one-quarter English, and a wee bit of Irish — his green eyes. After renting a car, Williams learned: to drive a stick shift left-handed, to drive on the left side of the road, to use the round-abouts, to ask for directions frequently, and to remember never to ask for the free upgrade to a larger car. However, driving allowed access to many extraordinary sights.

Williams formally studied art at Pomona College in the late 1960s, but switched from painting to photography as he “university-hopped” around the country in the early-to-mid-1970s. He has created numerous multimedia shows as an art form and to advertise various effective education programs.

Among other responsibilities, Williams directed a group of international graphic artists as part of Project Follow Through at the University of Kansas prior to coming to Gonzaga in 1979. He received formal training in photography at both the University of Kansas and Gonzaga. In the Spokane area, Professor Williams has formally shown photographic exhibits at Gonzaga and Eastern Washington University, as well as at Spokane Art Fest and at Art on the Green in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Thirty years ago he spoke to a Kodak photographer who was responsible for showing a spectacular multimedia show (30 slide and three movie projectors). The photographer told Williams what he thought the key difference is between a good amateur and a good professional photographer: editing! Though admittedly painful for Professor Williams, he believes viewers of this exhibit will appreciate that he edited his 1,870 photographs of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland down to 25 photos.

For more information, please contact Professor Williams at (509) 323-3506 or via e-mail at williamsr@gonzaga.edu.