Haunting visions
by KC Jones, ne news editor

    It would be hard to find someone in America who has not been exposed to the images of destruction that resulted from the terrorist plot executed Sept. 11.

    NE Campus photography student, Jill Oram, is no exception.

    Oram has created a dramatic display of art that expresses her deep feelings about the tragedy. Her Stairway of Terror project is hanging on the wall in the photography area in the Communication Arts Building.

    As the foundation for the art, Oram used the staircase from an American Airlines’ American Eagle commuter plane that had been junked at Meacham Field. Then she had the staircase torched so it would look like wreckage.

    Oram assembled five different images from a variety of sources—spanning Sept. 11 through October—showing in progression what happened to the World Trade Center.

    Oram then worked her magic on the images before displaying them on the staircase. She explores various techniques in her work including sandwiching, scratching and cross processing negatives.
“I try to take these processes to the extreme until I feel the emotion deep in my soul. I feel these techniques serve me well in communicating a feeling in what I may be experiencing or expressing at the time. Art is therapy for me,” she said.

    Oram begins with a plan or production idea and then begins exploring ideas she feels most strongly about. Other techniques in her bag include lighting effects, special film and experimental processing, props, costumes, different papers and a variety of toning.

    “Light is the key, just as vision is the feeling that compels the image to be born. The light that radiates from my images comes from my spiritual experiences that manifest themselves in my dreams,” she said.

    Oram said she depends on the vision she is interpreting to guide her through the creative processes. With an emotionally sensitive subject such as the destruction of the World Trade Center, Oram believes it is only because she is removed from the situation personally that she can dive so deeply into it creatively.

    “In a way, because I am back away from it, I can get this close to it,” she said.

    Oram has been studying photography at TCC for nine years now and feels as though she is a permanent fixture. She is currently taking an independent studies class under Terry Cummings, adjunct instructor of photography.

    Of all the photography courses Oram has taken, she says she gets the most out of the fine art part of photography although she also works in the commercial end and has had her own business since 1997 taking wedding portraits.

    “My favorite side of photography is the fine art side. That is why I keep coming back to TCC. I love that campus,” she said.

    Oram’s independent study required her to pick a subject. She chose the World Trade Center because she wanted to do a project that might be disturbing to some people.

    “It is haunting when you look at it,” she said.

    Oram would like to donate her memorial piece to a gallery in New York City.

    To view more of Oram’s artwork, visit her website at http://home-page.mac.com/JillOramproductions