‘Pivotal, Faces of Change: Hartford’ which has been commissioned and produced by West Hartford’s Golden Thread Gallery, opens Thursday, April 27 at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center.

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A unique photography and film event Pivotal, Faces of Change: Hartford, will be launched on Thursday, April 27, from 6-8 p.m. and will remain on display until May 25 at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT.

Pivotal Hartford / Power To The People from Ruedi Hofmann on Vimeo.

Pivotal, Faces of Change: Hartford is a large scale exhibit of black and white still and motion portraits, and will also premiere a 30 minute film of the same name by renowned photographer Ruedi Hofmann. This special exhibit is, Hofmann explains, a “keyhole view of the many people of Hartford whose contributions are helping to rebuild the city.”

This innovative photography exhibit features larger-than-life portraits that “come alive” on your smartphone using the Live Portrait app, an image map technology app that combines still images with embedded videos that he produced with the help of local filmmaker Daniel Salazar III.

The project was commissioned and produced by The Golden Thread Gallery, Tricia Haggerty Wenz and Kate Wilson.

The original inspiration for the first Pivotal project, Hofmann explains, was the city of Newburgh itself, “a city of innovation and energy” that “fell to its knees” in the 1960s and 1970s, and that now is “beginning to rise back up” – a change he attributes to the many hundreds of people “dedicated to being the change.”

In fact, says Hofmann, many of the people featured in these Pivotal portraits will be present at the April 27 opening, creating a unique introduction to this “special community of doers.” Pivotal is a well-told visual story of only some of the many, many Faces of Change in Hartford. The opening signals only the beginning of a major endeavor that, moving forward, will include other cities and communities.

A Ruedi Hofmann photograph is like a shot of one of those energy drinks – you take it in, and suddenly you feel exuberant. It’s obvious from Ruedi’s personal work that his photographic style comes naturally to him. His series on his former Harlem neighborhood captures the striking geometry of the architecture and the spirit of what it’s like to live there. For Ruedi, who began his career three decades ago as an assistant to Richard Avedon, photography has shaped his life, as a highly sought after professional photographer.

The Golden Thread Gallery was established in 2012 with the mission of connecting the human spirit through the arts. In 2014, The Golden Thread expanded their work to create meaningful public art projects that improve the quality of community life, encourage neighborhood engagement, and better define place-based identity and culture. The Golden Thread has completed multiple successful community art projects in Hartford. Through this work they provide many opportunities for a broad and inclusive group of people to experience and engage with art in the community.

This event is free and the public is cordially invited to attend.