Fine art photographer David Proeber is no stranger to a newsroom. The longtime, now retired Pantagraph photo editor got his start as a college student at the Marquette University Tribune more than four decades ago.
Proeber said if he could pick a life, it would be the one he’s lived.
“I’ve seen presidents,” he said. “I’ve photographed them. I’ve talked to their wives; I’ve talked to them. Incredible stories over the years. It’s been a true blessing. On the other hand, I’ve done my fine artwork really from the beginning.”
Since retiring, Proeber stayed in Bloomington and has poured more time into conceptual photography projects. As part of a new book release, his latest collection called Visions, Curses and Blessings is featured at McLean County Arts Center. Sculpture Dann Nardi and glass worker Michelle Rial are also featured in the trio of month-long solo exhibitions.
Proeber is self-taught in both fine art photography and photojournalism.
“I had been sort-of a student of the fine arts over the years,” he said. “I’ve just always enjoyed the fine arts, painting in particular, had been to a lot of museum shows and that started to enter into my photography by the time I was 16 or 17 years old.”
Aspects of both genres influence Visions, Curses and Blessings, which draws from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. It is the Proeber’s third such project inspired by biblical writings; in the late 1970s he photographed junk yard cars rusting in the sun and made his first former exhibit blending close-up images with passages from the Book of Genesis. Two decades later, he made a photo book on Songs of Solomon, which is aesthetically connected to Visions, Curses and Blessings—though his technique has changed.
“I’ve studied the Bible for a long time, and it’s given me inspiration over the years,” Proeber said. “Isaiah had a heavy responsibility of being an oracle to the king, but also to God, who called him to chastise his generation for failing to live up to God’s expectations.”
It’s this contradiction that swirls through the book’s images of contemporary women in Biblical garb, offering a perspective that Proeber said is both timely and timeless.
“Today I find that our country has gone into a state of mind where the stranger is the enemy,” he said. “I saw the issue in the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis going way back before I even began on this project.”
His black and white photographs were shot in Sedona, Arizona, with a medium format camera—resulting in big, high-resolution images. Unlike Songs of Solomon, in which Proeber manipulated his photographs in the dark room, here, hand-painted layers created with India ink on watercolor paper are super-imposed in Photoshop overlaying his photographs.
But it was his wife who prompted Proeber’s interpretation of Isaiah from a feminine voice and perspective. The Rev. Jan Proeber, a one-time Pantagraph reporter and copy editor, attended seminary and now serves as a minister in Lexington.
“When a Lutheran boy comes into contact with a progressive woman minister, some interesting things begin to happen,” said Proeber. “My eyes were certainly opened.”
Proeber said religion has not been well-served by holding women back from leadership positions.
“We’ve come to this point where Christian nationalism has been the produce of a male-dominated religion, essentially, that has turned its back on what Christ was teaching,” he said. “Some people will look at my book and say this is political. It’s not political at all. My book has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with how God has called us to treat one another.”
Visions, Curses and Blessings runs through June 6 at the McLean County Art sCenter, 601 N. East St. An opening reception takes place tonight at 5 p.m. More information at 309-829-0011 and mcac.org. Visions, Curses and Blessings is available in book form at poerberfineart.com.
