The RISD Years

Nina Zitani, cyanotype done in Paul Krot's winter session class

Found some more old drawings, collages and photos, and several were from 1984 Freshman Foundation at Rhode Island School of Design. As soon as we arrived, our drawing instructor Victor Lara told us to go to the Nature Lab and return the following day with a drawing of bones.

This pencil drawing with the skull and bones was done overnight, and I recall Victor wanting me to loosen up. By the end of the semester, I did.

The feet drawings were done a little later, and we were working in charcoal and pastels rather than pencil. It was an overnight assignment, and the one on the right was the second and more loose of the two. I got bonus points for the smudgy footprints to the upper left.

I never got to finish this drawing, but it's still one of my favorites. We were supposed to be studying planes.

Freshman Foundation also included Two-Dimensional Design, and our instructor was Gerry Immonen. He, too, was brilliant. The two collages with leaves are among the only things I saved.

Providence, RI, 1985, silver print, infrared film

My focus was really on photography, and I loved all the alternative processes. During winter session, I took a class called Antique and Alternate Processes with Paul Krot. We learned how to do cyanotypes, Van Dyke Brown, platinum, palladium. gum bichromate, and a variety of other fun things. Around the same time, infrared photography was a thing. I enjoyed black and white infrared landscapes, as well as night photography.

Providence, RI, 1985, silver print, infrared film

Moorestown, NJ, 1984, silver print

"The Jonhsons' Laundry" Moorestown, NJ, 1984, silver print

The last image was juried in to several shows, won awards, and was published. Our neighbors, the Johnsons, left their laundry out all night around Christmas time in 1984, and I crept into their yard around midnight with camera and tripod. It was foggy, and the foreground was slightly out of focus, giving it a glowing effect. The combination of elements, especially the cross-shaped clothesline support, made it a memorable image.