Hayley Pingree
Mark Philbrick, BYU’s full-time photographer, has traveled the world snapping pictures of BYU performers and researchers. Throughout his travels Philbrick has had the opportunity to photograph more than the day-to-day happenings in Provo.
Philbrick’s art exhibit, “Places with Faces,” which is being showcased at the Covey Center for the Arts this fall, highlights the faces of the people Philbrick has met and photographed throughout the world. According to the exhibit description the exhibit images come from 28 countries, featuring candid shots of people in everyday life.
Mark PhilbrickDanae Friel, marketing coordinator at the Covey Center, said she finds Philbrick’s photographs both enticing and moving.
“All of the photos are very riveting,” Friel said. “They are all designed around the faces of the people. There are a great number of them, but they’re worth taking the time to look through because Mark took the time to show the emotion on the faces of the people he’s photographed.”
While Philbrick is well known for his BYU sports photographs, he refers to his down-time shootings as “PeopleScapes.” PeopleScapes explore the personalities and emotions of the people photographed, and have broadened Philbrick’s photography horizons.
Philbrick has a distinct method in how he captures the poignant moments at BYU and around the world.
“I think of everything as a dance,” Philbrick said in the biography at the exhibit. “To me, athletics is a dance. People walking across campus is a dance. A person in the lab is a dance. As people move through life, some are flowing, some are tapping, some are just dragging across, and some are in the air flying. I look for the dance in people, and I strive to photograph it. I make it my job to capture all those different dances and movements of people at BYU.”
The exhibit, which began earlier this month, will show the “dances” of people who are different than those in much of Philbrick’s work.
“I think this exhibit is outstanding because it gives us a look into a whole other facet of his career,” Friel said.
The exhibit will run until Oct. 27, with free admission. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday. The Covey Center is located on West Center Street in Provo.
