Andrew Pielage and Jason Roehner's "Photos of Tempe" Opens Friday

By Bryan Scott Dugan Tue., Jul. 5 2011 at 2:03 PM

Categories: Visual Art

Courtesy of Andrew Pielage

This summer, Tempe Public Art and Tempe's post office will host "Photos of Tempe," an visual effort by Arizona photographers Andrew Pielage and Jason Roehner to capture the city's lifespan, transformation, and current state of progress.

Their photography will be showcased from July 8 to November 2 in the windows of the post office at 500 S. Mill Ave., with additional historical photos provided by the Tempe History Museum.

Courtesy of Andrew Pielage

"Fly and Drive"

As a 30-year resident of Tempe, Pielage says he has seen progression of Tempe Town Lake, which is the focus of his half of the project, into "a city treasure." He says "Arizona's famous sunset" has a way of transitioning the lake into an alluring scene.

"Endless beauty is not only held to natural landscapes, but is just as apparent in manufactured cityscapes," Pielage says. "It's in things we see every day on our morning commute, on the way to the grocery store, or running to our favorite place in Tempe."

Pielage photographed the city for three months, collecting shots that he submitted to the "Photos of Tempe" exhibit after a fellow member at Tempe Artist Guild suggested he enter.

He says his favorite piece from the exhibit is "Modes of Transportation" because it shows two different eras -- the old Mill Bridge built in 1931 next to the newly built light rail bridge -- in transit.

Courtesy of the City of Tempe

One of Jason Roehner's additions to the "Photos of Tempe" exhibit.

Jason Roehner, the exhibit's other contributing photographer, moved to Arizona from the east coast in 1998 and graduated from ASU in 2008 with a photography degree.

Roehner works on the Phoenix Transect Project, a group that studies and documents the expansion and changes of the Phoenix Metropolitan area.

Interested in the growth of areas surrounding the light rail, he has been using a type of rephotography to capture the change. Rephotography (shown in the above photo) is a "then and now" technique that uses an older photograph against a newer one to compare the change of a scene.

Pielage says he hopes that after viewing the exhibit, people will see Tempe and the Tempe Town Lake in a different light and will find new appreciate for what was already in their backyard.