Throughout the last month, new professor Johnny Power had the opportunity to showcase some of his photography in Kirkland Fine Arts Center. Although this is Power’s first semester, he plans to stick around for a while. He says, “I am very excited about the potential in the photography area here.”

Power received his BA in Visual Arts from UIS, and is currently working on his MFA in Photography from the Academy of Art. He grew up in Easton, but has spent a majority of his time living in Mason City.

This semester, he has been teaching beginning and intermediate digital photography and working with practicum students on photos and prints. Next semester, Power is excited to be teaching an alternative process class. Alternative process is non-digital historical process, which includes Cyanotypes, salt prints and silver-gelatin prints.

Power’s photography style is called constructive reality. This is much different than taking pictures of nature or wedding photos. In this style, Power creates small worlds and narratives. He sets everything up himself, sometimes creating dioramas to create a sort of allegorical narrative. Using people as his subject, he still uses constructive reality and fits them into a story. “It’s like telling an idea in my head,” he said. His style has been described as “lyrical,” and he finds this to be a very fitting term. Power also loves to use Polaroid, and has been experimenting with pinhole photography.

Power’s favorite aspect of Millikin is the intimacy. “It’s small and easier to get to know people. I feel that I can focus on my students and other faculty.” Power is humble, and does not have much to say about himself, but he does have advice for students here at Millikin. Power urges all of his students to “explore things.” He gives them a base from a historical standpoint, and wants them to learn from their failures. “Failures are not bad. I think that students should be happy and comfortable in their failures. Learn from them.”