Taylor McLean
Professor Breaux
English 101-63
30 September 2014
Works Cited
Mhire, Herman. "Biography." Herman Mhire- Biography. Web. <http://hermanmhire.com/biography.php>.
Garcia, Emilio. "Sea Shell Discoveries." Louisiana Art and Science Museum, Baton Rouge, LA. 21 Sept. 2014. Lecture.
Mhire, Herman. Herman Mhire- Emilio Garcia The Art and Science of Shells. 2014. Louisiana Art and Science Museum, Baton Rouge, LA.
Taylor McLean
Professor Breaux
English 101-63
30 September 2014
Discovering the True Beauty of Shells
Using the most ubiquitous of cameras- the cell phone- Lafayette based artist Herman Mhire has spent the last two years capturing the subtle beauty of one of nature's most beautiful creations, the shell. Prior to retirement in 2005, he was named a Distinguished Professor of Visual Arts in the College of the Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Director/ Chief Curator of the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, where he organized more than 200 exhibitions including traveling exhibitions presented in the United States, Canada, and Europe (Mhire).
Map of Baton Rouge in 1863
Seal of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
English: Skyline of Baton Rouge, LAWhile shopping for souvenirs in a Florida store, Mhire's shell adventure began with a tiger stripped snail shell. Captivated by its beauty, Mhire had found a new muse for his artwork. He was originally a painter but wanted to start experimenting with photography. Although Mhire purchased an expensive camera for this project, he quickly discovered that he was getting much better results by using an iPhone 4S. Photographing only one shell was not enough for Mhire. A friend happened to inform Mhire about Doctor Garcia, who readily shared his collection.
Mhire was able to select his subjects from more than 100,000 specimens from 7,000 different species, collected by Dr. Emilio Garcia, a renowned malacologist whose fascination for shells began in childhood. Garcia was also a citizen of Lafayette. At the University of...