PANORAMIC VIEW: This 1988 photo portrait, titled “Anna and Tom” by Lee Friedlander depicts Tom and Anna Roma and is part of the exhibition, “Pannaroma – MCCC,” which opens at Mercer County Community College Gallery on Tuesday, September 2. The show will run through September 25. For more information, visit: www.mccc.edu/gallery.

Mercer County Community College (MCCC) will open with an exhibition of photographic works produced by 18 photographers from September 2 through September 25, who used a specially designed 1×3 panoramic camera built by Thomas Roma, the Director of Photography at Columbia University. The public is invited to an opening reception on Thursday, September 4, from 6 to 8 p.m., that will feature statements by some of the photographers.

Titled “Pannaroma — MCCC,” in honor of Mr. Roma’s wife, Anna, the show was previously exhibited in New York City, Miami, and New Orleans.

According to MCCC Photography Professor Michael Dalton, co-curator of the exhibit with Gallery Director Dylan Wolfe, professor Roma created 31 cameras from the mid-1980s through the 1990s built on a handheld 35mm Nikon F. Mr. Dalton notes that panoramic cameras at that time were significantly heavier and used larger film, requiring the use of a tripod. “Professor Roma’s goal was to make the taking of panoramic photos easier and allow for more versatile subject matter,” said Dalton.

Many of the photos in the exhibit capture interaction between people and their environment, a departure from the sprawling natural scenery typically depicted with panoramic cameras. “The Roma camera allows for more,” said Mr. Dalton. “The result is a wide-ranging group of photographs that draws the viewer into the content of the photo.”

“Pannaroma” features work from professional photographers, including a number of Mr. Roma’s former students. In addition to Mr. Roma and MCCC’s Dalton, the exhibition includes photos by Inbal Abergil, Tony Chirinos, Sasha Waters Freyer, Lee Friedlander, Stephen Hilger, Yoav Horesh, Zsolt Kadar, Richard LaBarbera, Jeff Ladd, Kai McBride, Laura Mircik-Sellers, Claudio Nolasco, Anibal Pella-Woo, Dennis Santella, Raghubir Singh, and Daniel Willner.

The MCCC Galley is located on the second floor of the Communications Building on the college’s West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. Gallery hours are Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information, including directions to campus, visit: www.mccc.edu/gallery.

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