Sonoma State photography exhibits explore California's changing landscape
The University Art Gallery at Sonoma State University opens two new shows, Mere Seconds by photographer Andrew Owen and Insight/Incite 20/20, a survey curated by PhotoAlliance of San Francisco. Together they use the photographic medium to probe California’s rapidly shifting landscape and the human stories woven through it.
Mere Seconds gathers sixteen large‑format images taken from 2020 to 2026, documenting the ecological fallout of megafires, floods and an unexpected snow‑laden Jeep in the Sierra. Owen’s work, rooted in what scholars call the “apocalyptic sublime,” balances stark devastation with moments of striking natural beauty.
Insight/Incite 20/20 brings together twenty artists—Wesaam Al‑Badry, Binh Danh, Linda Connor, Lewis Watts, Mercedes Dorame, Zack Schomp and others—to explore themes of identity, migration, environmental change and social justice. The diverse perspectives highlight how contemporary photography can articulate both personal and collective experience.
Guest curator Chris Grunder, a Bay Area artist and SSU faculty member, links the two programs, while the University Art Gallery, now in its 48th year of free public exhibitions, offers a series of talks and panels that deepen the conversation about landscape, memory and community.