October 19, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHA alum shows his photography at school’s gallery
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

“The Old Neighborhood,” a photograph taken by 2001 CHA alumnus Michael Koehler at 10th and Oregon in Philadelphia, is on display at CHA. Michael Koehler, 24, was inspired to pursue photography as a career by his CHA photography teacher, Peter Capano. (Photo by Filippo Chia)

Michael Koehler may have been a strong football player as a Chestnut Hill Academy student, but it wasn’t the big homecoming game that brought him back to his alma mater this year. Instead, Koehler returned to display his work in an exhibit in the Crawford Gallery, hoping to inspire young photographers as he was just a few years ago.

Koehler, 24, spent his CHA years playing football and experimenting with photography in the streets of Philadelphia. When he was a boy, he said he “played with photography,” capturing the images of his friends at play or hanging out.

Although he enjoyed the hobby, it remained just that until his CHA photography teacher, Peter Capano, showed Koehler a body of work he had done as a younger man.

“They were photos of his friends and neighbors, just hanging out,” Koehler said, photos that were similar to his own experimentations. “His work inspired me to be proud of my own art.”

Koehler began to focus on a photograph’s light, composition and texture, which can be altered to change a photographic image, and improved his photography using these techniques.

During his years at CHA, he continued to play football, and when graduation came around in 2001, college recruiters were offering him scholarships to play football. But he turned down all the offers when he was accepted into the exclusive photography program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, which admits only 12 students a year

“That kind of sealed the deal for me,” said Koehler, who spent the next four years furthering his education in photography.

During that time, he spent six months abroad in Rome, which he said was another high point in his study of photography. He had begun to take a real interest in the way light affects a photograph, and he was inspired by the Italians’ use of natural light.

“They understand that light is the essence of life, and designed their churches to reflect that,” he said, explaining that the windows and light-emitting slits in the churches bring light into the building at certain areas during certain times.

Many of his photos reflect this interest in light. A photo called “Returning Light” highlights a stream of light in a cemetery as it falls upon a broken grave. Another, “River of Styx,” features a man in Rome on a rowboat under shadows, surrounded by the sky and reflections of trees in the water.

Koehler’s images have appeared in American Photo magazine, the New York Daily News, Philadelphia Style magazine. He is a weekly contributor to Philadelphia’s City Paper and is a photographer for the AND 1 basketball gear advertisements.

Koehler lives and has a studio in Mt. Airy, and has shown his art in Philadelphia, New York and in Italy. He invited CHA administrators and former teachers to his gallery show at the F.U.E.L. Gallery in Philadelphia — the former MTV Real World house — and suggested to them that they put the same photo series, titled “Internal Garden,” on display in the school’s gallery for homecoming.

The school just happened to have an open time slot, and the industrial-style gallery is now exhibiting photos of Koehler’s experience in Rome, Paris, New York and Philadelphia.

A closing reception will be held from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the gallery. Koehler said he would display some of his other work and talk about the pieces.

More information on Koehler and his photography is available online at www.photomike.org.

Contact staff writer Kristin Pazulski at 215-248-8819 or Kristin@chestnuthilllocal.com.