Black and white photography exhibit at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art

"Nocturnal: A Different Look of Traditional Photography"

What: Reception for the official debut of black and white photo exhibition

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Brownsville Museum of Fine Art

In the darkness, Yolanda Casanova captured the stillness of her Southmost neighborhood after all of its voices had subsided into the silence of the night.

Rebekah S. Gomez instead focused on the unusual and often overlooked, like the mechanical horse outside of the supermarket or the pattern created by rows of washing machines at the Laundromat.

And Ruben Isaac Marin framed his lens on the history of Brownsville’s downtown architecture.

They were among nine photographers who took to the streets in the twilight hours to shoot the city’s nocturnal life and landscapes, proving that artists, as their show’s inscription reads, "do not stop seeing in the dark."

Their black and white exhibition, "Nocturnal: A Different Look at Traditional Photography," will officially debut 2 p.m. Saturday at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art.

The group put together the showcase as part of an advanced film photography class at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, but the work is on par with that of upcoming professionals, museum curator Jennifer Cahn said.

The images echo the mystery and elegance of traditional, black and white photography in a way that is almost contradictory to the display’s name, Cahn said.

"The work is serious and quiet," yet, its striking points of view and attention to shapes and shadows make the photographs unique, she said.

There are stunning buildings in Marin’s images, shot from dramatic angles. But he did not have to go to New York City or Chicago to take pictures of skyscrapers, he said.

"This city has character, a lot of it," said the 32-year-old Brownsville native. "I wanted people to see there is beauty here."

Samir Orozco, 30, instead captured the culture of Nuevo Progreso. The Mexican town once bustled with tourism during better economic days but became quieter as the recession hit and new laws were instated requiring U.S. citizens to carry passports when crossing the border, he said.

"No one goes over as much," said Orozco, who captured the calmness of the town 20 minutes from his home in La Feria.

Photographers strictly adhered to traditional film techniques — meaning no flash, no Photoshop. Rather, they delved into all the challenges of producing an image using chemicals, enlargers, filters and a wet darkroom.

"They could manipulate images in the darkroom, but they really had to have a good photograph to begin with," Cahn said. "They rejected our world of technology to focus on the materials and the process."

And that came with a lot of room for failure, said Brad Doherty, the photographers’ instructor at UTB-TSC and the chief photographer for The Brownsville Herald.

"You really have to persevere; you can’t just walk away from it because you are going to be unsuccessful so much of the time," he said.

To avoid error meant serious planning for 24-year-old Gloria Garcia who "was looking for the splendor of nature." Sometimes, she would begin shooting at 3 a.m. to catch the moon at the most precise location.

"The state of mind I would put myself in is one of sincerity, being really honest with what is out there," she said.

The photographs have been hanging on the walls of the BFMA for nearly three weeks, but the exhibition’s official opening was delayed after the death of the museum’s executive director.

The serenity in the images fit the feeling inside the museum, Cahn said.

"Even the ones with people, catch a person in a moment of stillness," she said. "They have a reflective atmosphere … and we are in a reflective, quiet state of mind right now."