Kris Hodson Moore, Amanda Dahlgren and Janine Free have a three-way exhibit at Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village.  Their images blend a strong individual aesthetic with cultural commentary.

Kris Hodson Moore takes on the modern portrait showing photographs of fresh faces layered with images from television news. “My models are kids under 21 living in America. I want to show the contrast between their lives and the harsh reality with which they will soon have to cope”.

Amanda Dahlgren considers the pre-abandoned house and the impact of master-planned communities on the housing crisis.  “Where others see the hope and possibilities of a new home, I see pre-abandoned spaces as the American dream, promised by the model homes, remains unfulfilled by financial missteps, broken relationships, or simply the realities of the hardship of life”.

Janine Free takes us through streets in Europe expressing a contemporary view of “Street Photography”, a genre fathered in Paris in the 1890’s by Eugene Atget and Henri Cartier-Bresson.  It candidly tells a story with ironic amusement and subtlety.  The images were taken in the Spring of 2012 in Paris, Marseille, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Saint Petersburg, and Turku (Finland).