February 18, 2019 Brookhaven Courier | 5

CAMPUS Student captures Paris, Mexico in film

By Stephanie Salas-Vega The photos in Bourliot’s exhibi- Arts & Culture Editor tion were taken over a span of six months while visiting family in Par- A group of French rioters roamed is, where his parents recently moved, the streets of Paris looting and set- and Mexico City. Bourliot said some ting trash cans on fire to show their images were shot with Film Washi, opposition to France’s gas tax and a handcrafted film from France. All other economic issues one Saturday photos were developed in the dark- in December 2018. The rioters were room in L Building. on their way to face police, who were One image is a shot of Paris taken armed with helmets, gas masks and from the Eiffel Tower. The photo shields. resembles a 3D satellite map, with Following them was Lev Bourliot, traceable streets and buildings pop- a Brookhaven College multimedia ping out. artist and photography student, with Another photo was taken from un- his Canon AE-1 35mm film camera der the tower looking up. In another, and an Olympus point-and-shoot. protesters are seen urinating in the From afar, a long line of police bushes by the Louvre museum with officers charged toward the rioters a view of the Roue de Paris, a 200- at full speed. Before he could think, foot tall transportable Ferris wheel. Bourliot jumped out of the way and “The media updates everybody flashed his Brookhaven Courier on where the protest is going,” press pass to let them know he was Bourliot said. “They told them it’s not just a bystander. Dodging the going to be at the Louvre but that protesters’ Coca-Cola bottles and the was a decoy and they all met up in police’s tear gas grenades, Bourliot Paris.” maneuvered through the chaos be- An overturned trash can, a small fore he was eventually tear-gassed. fire pit, scattered boxes and trash in “I wasn’t scared for my safety the a narrow street cover the foreground whole time I was there. I was scared I of one photo. A police officer in riot was going to be in the wrong place at gear stands centered behind it while the wrong time,” Bourliot said. “But others stay to the right. Bourliot being in all that, I felt alive. I felt too captured the image while following much adrenaline. It’s kind of hard to the rowdier rioters. focus on taking photos. I often take Bourliot said he used both of his photos without looking.” cameras interchangeably, often tak- Violent protests involving mem- ing photos without looking through Photo by Lev Bourliot bers of a movement known as the the viewfinder. “gilets jaunes,” or Yellow Vests, Other images show Mexico City’s broke out in France mid-November culture and the aftermath of the 2017 and have been held every Saturday earthquake. Tangled power lines on since, according to The New York posts and across building walls were Times. Protestors angry over high among the damage caused by the gas prices in rural areas where peo- earthquake, Bourliot said. A close-up ple depend on cars due to the lack of of small figurines hanging by a string public transportation rallied against was taken inside a city shop whose the government of French President owner charged tourists 15 Mexican Emmanuel Macron. pesos (less than a dollar) for photos. “[Protesters] get tired of walking, “He brings a creative experimen- and then there’s one who just won’t tation to his photography that, to shut up, so those guys rise out of the me, is very inspiring,” James Rizzi, crowd and are the ones who want to artistically known as JM Rizzi, said. break stuff,” Bourliot said. “Those “He’s never afraid to explore vari- are the people I wanted to follow.” ous angles of mediums. I find him to be quite courageous with his image CHASING LIGHT making.” The black-and-white images Bour- On Feb. 7, Bourliot added a photo liot captured during his Paris visit are of Rizzi to the exhibition - he has showcased in The Basement Gallery been shooting a documentary about on the lower level of L Building. The Rizzi since summer 2018. exhibition opened Feb. 4 and runs Bourliot is no stranger to the art through the beginn`ing of April. world. He’s a photographer, film- The exhibition, titled “Chasing maker and painter. When he is not Light,” also includes photos taken in hanging out in the darkroom, he is Photo by Jacob Vaughn Mexico City and Dallas, as well as in D Building working on his next Clockwise from top: French police stand by burning trash in a market art pieces made from manipulated canvas. street after chasing away protesters; Lev Bourliot, a Brookhaven College photographs. One photograph was The contemporary artist traces multimedia artist and photography student, stands in The Basement Gal- spray-painted Bourliot spray-painted his roots back almost seven years lery; a woman walks down a street in Paris’ arts district, near Vincent van one photo over stencils. to when he filmed YouTube vid- Gogh’s brother’s old home; a cyclist rides down a street in Mexico City; “As soon as I found out how to eos with friends. Since then, he has Yellow Vest protesters urinate in bushes in the Tuileries Garden in front use film, I wanted to take as many filmed short documentaries and mu- of the Louvre Museum, with the Roue de Paris, a 200-foot transportable photos as I could so I could get the sic videos, which helped him transi- Ferris wheel, in the background. right ones in my portfolio,” Bourliot tion to photography. said. “I was just kind of chasing light Bourliot said he could not have rather than waiting for it to come to taken the photos in his exhibition me and have the right moment. I try if he had not learned composition to be at the right moment.” from filmmaking. Photo by Lev Bourliot

Photo by Lev Bourliot Photo by Lev Bourliot