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University of Louisville Statement:
May 13, 2002 Gordon Baer, Photographer 113 West 4th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Dear Gordon: Since "Beck: End of Life Photographs by Gordon Baer" opened in our gallery, we have been touched and moved by the steady flow of students, friends of your family, and interested people from the community who have come to stand, in stilence, before your powerful images. On behalf of all of them, and all of my colleagues here in Special Collections, I thank you for allowing us to share her story. As you recall, we originally planned the exhibition as a collaboration with the Kent School of Social Work, specificall the course Social Work 636: Death and Grief. We found, however, that the story of Beck drew students from other disciplines such as photography, nursing and litereature. A faculty member from the Lansing School of Nursing at Bellarmine recomended it to her students. U of L professors of several introductory sections of psychology assigned the exhibit as a topic for an essay. A photography student from Indiana University, who had come here to research another photographer, was moved to spend extra hours one Saturday afternoon in the Rare Books gallery with Beck. The two events planned in conjunction with the exhibition also drew substantial numbers of people. Althought we invited only your family and close friends for the exhibition opening reception on Marcxh 7, the gallery was full throughout that evening. The March 25 colloquium on End of Life Issues brought together a diverse panel of social workers, university faculty, a funeral home director, a Hospice nurse, a chaplain, and you, the photographer. You discussed, with each other, and with the audience, a range of issues and approaches to this difficult topic. You also provided for some in the audience facing difficult times and decisions, meaningful answers. Throughout the spring, these photographs and the memory of Beck, along with the memories of other loved ones evoked by your images, have transformed this space. Earlier this afternoon I walked through the gallery and found a small group of people, their hands joined, finishing a prayer. I have never considered a library or a gallery as a place of prayer. Now, after this season with Beck, I do. Thank you. Delinda Stephens Buie Curator, Rare Books |