Photo by John Fluharty

IF YOU GO: 10 color and black-and-white photos by Charleston native John Fluharty, from his travels in Egypt and Tibet. On view through Oct. 29 at The West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s 2nd floor Balcony Gallery at the State Capitol Complex, Charleston. Free. More info.

By Rebecca Burch
For thegazz.com

A boy stands in front of a demolished monastery that had been his home. Rubble surrounds him – evidence of the cruelty of those who would tear down a holy place, rather than allow those unlike them to worship in peace. On the boy’s face is a mixture of emotions: pain, sorrow, anger, determination. The jagged texture of the rubble and the coarse grass contrasts sharply with the boy’s smooth face and soft clothing. A slight breeze appears to blow the clouds and grass in the background as he stands atop the hill where the monastery once stood.

This is not a scene from the evening news, but a description of one of the dramatic photos in John Fluharty’s current exhibit in the Balcony Gallery at the Cultural Center in the state Capitol Complex. The exhibit of black-and-white and color photos, features photography from Egypt and Tibet taken during the Charleston native’s 2005-06 travels.

In these photos, Fluharty has captured intimate moments in the lives of his subjects, who range from a young, blind girl in Tibet to a barber in Egypt. The photos have the look of having been taken almost by surprise, recording fleeting moments in the lives of people halfway around the world. Fluharty explains in his statement; “I aim not to show the people and places, but the relationship between person and environment, the daily life that we so often overlook.”

In “Giza and Camel,” Fluharty tackles a cliché subject — a picture shot by 10,000 tourists: a camel in the desert, the Pyramids of Giza in the background. Despite the familiarity of subject matter, Fluharty has put his own spin on the image. The camel, sitting on its haunches faces away from the camera, looking at the pyramids as if contemplating the last leg of its trip across the hot sand. The colorful tassels hanging from the beast’s harness contrast with the smooth cerulean blue sky and golden pyramids in the distance.

Perhaps the most interesting photo in the exhibit is “Barber.” An Egyptian barber is preparing to give his customer a shave. The patron reclines in a chrome-and-turquoise swivel barber chair like you might find in any small-town barber shop in America. The barber looks at something off-camera (some passersby, as Fluharty explains in his artist’s statement.) The shop is cluttered, the walls adorned with framed memorabilia and a large, round mirror. The scene looks like a Norman Rockwell painting, except for the fact that the setting and subjects are Egyptian.

This is such a perfect collection of photos to exhibit in a time like this, when so much attention is given to the ways people from different cultures are dissimilar. Fluharty’s exhibit reminds us that, although our skin color and cultural background may vary, we are all very much alike. We all mourn our losses. We are all weary travelers. We all take a moment every now and then to treat ourselves to a little pampering. We are all human.

Photo above at right “Boy With a Thousand Buddhas” by John Fluharty

Rebecca Burch is a Charleston art teacher and writer.

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