UA Gallery Features Photographs of American Landscapes

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The photography of Ines Schaefer will be displayed from Friday, Oct. 7, to Friday, Oct. 28, at The University of Alabama Gallery in the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in downtown Tuscaloosa.

Schaefer is a native of Germany. She moved to Tuscaloosa in 2014 with her children and her husband, who works at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International. Soon after arriving in the United States, Schaefer and her family toured the nation coast to coast in a Tuscaloosa-made Mercedes GL SUV. Along their 15,000-mile journey, Schaefer captured images of iconic American landscapes.

Her exhibit, “America, the Beautiful: Seen through a Foreigner’s Eyes,” showcases the photography of her trip and highlights the beauty of the United States from the perspective of a native German. A reception for the exhibit will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Schaefer said that when she set off on her road trip, many of her American friends didn’t understand why she wanted to drive across the country instead of fly, but she said that it gave her the opportunity to have adventures “off the beaten path.”

“It is well worth it to just sit in a car and travel across borders,” Schaefer said.

Karen Kennedy, director of the UA Gallery, said that one purpose of the exhibit is to encourage natives to explore the country by car for themselves.

The exhibit will showcase 53 large photographs, featuring such places as Chicago;  Dauphin Island; June Lake, Arizona; and Monument Valley, Utah.

Though Schaefer’s exhibit will highlight her landscape and still-life work, she is best-known for her female portraiture work. She focuses on contemporary portraiture and has won international awards for her photography.

The UA Gallery offers a year-round schedule of exhibitions of artistic works, artifacts and textiles and other media from permanent collections held by UA as well as works by faculty, students and guest artists and designers.

The gallery is at 620 Greensboro Ave. in downtown Tuscaloosa and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and until 8 p.m. on the first Fridays of the month. For more information, call the gallery at 205/345-3038 or 205/342-2060.

The gallery is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Truman, Rhodes and Goldwater scholarships.