Walking into the Rotunda’s newest exhibit, images flood viewers’ eyes. Two eagles perch on a jagged rock overlooking the incoming waves. Nearby, empty bottles, bags and other trash crashes onto the shore. A University City High School sign that reads “Please do not drink from sinks” hangs around the hallways.
One Big Puddle, an organization dedicated to solving the world’s water-related issues, opened its exhibition H2011 at the Rotunda to a small audience Friday. The exhibit contains photographs of water taken by Penn and UCHS students which focused on how water is a critical issue in daily life.
The presentation was a culmination of the work of College junior and One Big Puddle founder Misha Chakrabarti, UCHS and Student Success Center site director Janice Park, the Netter Center and numerous photographers. In addition to drawing attention to the element’s beauty, the exhibit hoped to highlight critical issues of water that the world is facing, especially at the local level.
“People feel a disconnect from major environmental issues,” Chakrabarti said. “Photographs allow people to connect to the issues in a way that words can’t.”
UCHS students took photographs from around their school of sinks, toilets, fountains and even each other — since humans themselves are over 60 percent water — while learning about the water crisis, according to Netter Center Academically Based Community Service coordinator Anne Schwieger. Chakrabarti said they obtained photos from Penn students through emails and Penn Abroad’s Year of Water photo contest. He added that for more artwork they reached out Project Flow, an summer program that teaches Philadelphia-area students about water.
Standing next to her close-up photo of a glistening dew drop on the edge of a leaf, College junior Natalie Franke discusses how she brought water down to a smaller level through the use of Macro photography. “I love the way water looks at this level,” Franke said. “It takes on this abstract dreamy state. People take it for granted that we have this amazing water.”
The Netter Center also worked to address the complex issue of water by bringing it down to a local level for students at UCHS. “Water is a major issue of our time,” Schwieger said.
The exhibition will be open through March 25.
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