Photographs by Tom Becker on exhibit

Images by Orange City photographer Tom Becker will be on display Jan. 13 through Feb. 4 in Northwestern College’s Te Paske Gallery. A public reception with the artist is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m.

Becker’s exhibition includes a mix of traditional, film-captured images hand-printed on photographic fiber paper and those captured with a digital camera. Both black-and-white and color photos are part of the show. All but three were taken in the last five years and have never been previously exhibited.

“I photograph what appeals to me,” Becker says. “Sometimes it is lighting on a subject that draws me in and compels me to make the photograph. Oftentimes it is the subject that reminds me of something, and the image becomes a metaphor.”

A three-time recipient of Iowa Arts Council grants, Becker earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and sociology from the University of South Dakota. He is best known for his portraits that reveal the Midwest’s culture and people, including its farmers, cowboys and hoboes. His photographs have been shown in numerous regional one-man shows and published in several literary magazines. In 2005 and 2006 Becker participated in the Midwest Photography Project at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography. His work is also in collections in art centers, museums, libraries and colleges.

The Te Paske Gallery is located in Northwestern’s Korver Visual Arts Center on Highway 10 at 214 8th Street SW in Orange City. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to midnight Sunday.