Tallahassee Democrat - 11/10/2019 Page : C01

Copyright � 2019 Tallahassee Democrat. All rights reserved. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy/Your California Privacy Rights , updated March2007. 11/10/2019November 11, 2019 10:39 am (GMT +5:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

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Tallahassee Democrat ❚ SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019 ❚ 1C

TLHLife

HIDDEN

gemsRob Nixon does not consider himself strictly a photog-

rapher. He prefers interpreter, manipulator, meddler, or re-imaginer of images. Nixon is both a playwright and digitalphotography composer, finding narrative in written and vi-sual realms. Regardless if he is working with his originalphotographs or other source material, he is always lookingfor “hidden gems.”

“A lot of my plays have been fascinated with why we tellthe stories we do and how we use these stories to makesense of our lives and the world around us,” says Nixon. “Ifthere’s a connection between my writing and my photo-graphs it is that. What is this that is trying to be said andwhy is somebody telling this particular story in this partic-ular way?”

‘Damaged’photos raiseinterestingquestions

Amanda Sieradzki Council on Culture & Arts

See NIXON, Page 3C

Rob Nixon keeps his titlesopen-ended such as

“Appointment at theBureau.” ROB NIXON

Q. Judge Smith, what do judgesand lawyers talk about when theyhuddle-up and why aren’t jurors al-lowed to listen in? Pat

A. Pat, a jury must base its verdictsolely on the evidence admitted attrial, in accordance with the court’sinstructions on the law. That objec-tive becomes harder to accomplish ifjurors are exposed to inadmissibleevidence and faulty legal arguments.

Judges and lawyers hold side-barconversations and conduct hearingsapart from juries to prevent themfrom being tainted by what they arenot supposed to hear. Juries are in-structed not to speculate about whatis discussed outside of their pres-ence, and as a result, fewer errors andmistrials occur.

Side-bar conversations and hear-ings that exclude juries usually in-volve one or more of these topics:

1. EvidenceThe Florida Legislature enacted an

evidence code, which serves as a fil-ter. The judge sustains or overruleslawyers’ objections regarding evi-dence.

2. Pre-trial rulingsLawyers can obtain pre-trial rul-

ings about the validity of trafficstops, the legality of searches andseizures, or the admissibility of evi-dence. During trial, some pre-trialrulings need to be modified or recon-sidered.

3. Expert witnessesThe judge and lawyers conduct

hearings about the qualifications ofexpert witnesses and any limitationsthat will be placed on testimonies.

4. MistrialsA lawyer or witness may say or do

something that causes a mistrial. Ifso, the judge and lawyers discuss if amistrial can be avoided by having thejudge instruct the jury to disregardthe transgression.

5. Motions for judgment of ac-quittal

The State must provide evidencefor each element of a charged crime.After the State rests its case, the de-fense may test whether the State sat-isfied this requirement by moving fora judgment of acquittal. The judgehears and decides this motion whilethe jury is out on break.

6. The defendant’s right againstself-incrimination

After the State rests, the defen-dant must decide whether to testify.The defendant talks to his lawyer inprivate and then informs the court.

7. The defendant’s decisionabout putting on a case

After the State rests, the defensemust decide whether to call any wit-nesses.

8. Scheduling and logisticsSome side-bar conversations cov-

er timing issues and logistics, such astaking witnesses out-of-sequenc .

9. Final jury instructionsThe judge and lawyers work to fi-

nalize the jury instructions and ver-dict form that will be read to the jury.

Now you know what judges andlawyers talk about when jurors aren’tallowed to listen in. Following thisprocess promotes fair trials.

Email your questions to ask-judgesmith@gmail.com.

Ask Judge SmithLayne Smith

Guest columnist

What a jurydoesn’t hearand why it’simportant

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Tallahassee Democrat - 11/10/2019 Page : C03

Copyright � 2019 Tallahassee Democrat. All rights reserved. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy/Your California Privacy Rights , updated March2007. 11/10/2019November 11, 2019 10:39 am (GMT +5:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to 68% from original to fit letter pageTALLAHASSEE.COM ❚ SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019 ❚ 3C

Recently, Nixon believes his photog-raphy is coming full circle as he is work-ing with Polaroid pictures he took as ateenager. The Polaroid was Nixon’s firstcamera.

This series “Damaged” uses photosfrom his late mother’s albums and em-phasizes the imperfections of the agedmedia. Nixon’s composition, “Hus-band’s Friend From Work” will beshown as a part of this year’s Photofestat the Artport Gallery through Jan. 13.

“The damage on the Polaroid broughtout different colors and textures as Istarted working with it which I foundreally compelling,” says Nixon, who ma-nipulates the evidence of fingerprintsand writing that have altered the photosto add dimension. “When I took thesephotos, my mother used to write on theback of them. Some of the writing hascome through onto the front of the pho-to and they look like strange hieroglyph-ics.”

Nixon enjoys creating a sense of mys-tery around his compositions, whetherit is in the subject’s expression or theperipheral elements that becomeheightened through his digital manipu-lations. A self-taught photographer, heearned his degree in English and hasworked for numerous communicationsoffices and publications throughout hiscareer. As a result of Nixon’s daily workdemands, he began learning graphic im-aging software like Photoshop and Illus-trator.

It wasn’t long before working withthe software became a part of his leisuretime as Nixon toyed with his own pho-tographs. In 2010, a curator invited himto have a solo exhibition during the At-lanta Celebrates Photography Festival.Nixon says he began collaging regularlyafter the success of that first show, en-tering his work around the world andselling to interested buyers.

For Nixon, writing and photographyare inextricably linked in his process.When he first started making pieces, hewould write a paragraph and then chal-lenge himself to create an image thatwas just as detailed.

He takes a bird’s eye view on makingwork, and will often ruminate on theconstruction of stories both in wordsand images as his main source of inspi-ration. In this regard, he is heavily influ-enced by Italian author Italo Calvinoand the book, “If on a Winter’s Night aTraveler,” for how it examines storytell-ing on a macro and micro scale.

“As a storyteller, you pick certain as-pects of conflict, character, setting, andsubtext and you pull them together intoa narrative,” says Nixon. “We think ofphotography as putting a photo downand capturing reality, but photogra-phers actually pick and choose thesethings as well to tell stories in their pho-tos.”

Nixon looks deeply into each photo tosee what the story behind the storymight be. Sometimes a gesture or ex-pression sparks his interest and leads tosomething fruitful. Other times heworks for hours but comes up with adead end. Nixon is invested in the proc-ess rather than the product, and focuseshis energy on following intuition. Hemight take 12 extra steps in his softwareto achieve a look, but it is the journeyand promise of the unexpected that mo-tivates him forward.

Nixon’s work tends to incorporatecultural or historical references. He pre-fers to keep his titles open ended how-ever, so that the viewer can insert theirown thoughts. Such is the case with hiswork “Appointment at the Bureau”which juxtaposes the U.S. Capitol in areflecting pool with a mausoleum and adrone flying a filing cabinet overhead.

Another work called “We Don’t Be-long Here” combines vintage postcardswith old photographs. Nixon has joking-ly deemed it his “unwanted child” as ithasn’t been accepted into any exhibi-tions, though it is one of his favorites.

He is looking forward to viewers’ re-actions to his “Damaged” series piece inPhotofest this year. The exhibit is curat-ed by COCA for the Art in Public Placesprogram on behalf of the City of Talla-hassee. This was a competitive yearwith 200 works submitted, and will beNixon’s second Photofest exhibition. Apublic reception will be held on Nov. 15with an awards announcement at 6:30.Instead of visitors walking away withanswers, Nixon hopes to provoke ques-tions.

“I want people to be sucked into thephoto, intrigued and wanting to knowmore,” says Nixon. “The questions aremore interesting to me than the answersbecause our questions are what defineus more.”

Amanda Sieradzki is the featurewriter for the Council on Culture & Arts.COCA is the capital area’s umbrellaagency for arts and culture (www.talla-hasseearts.org).

NixonContinued from Page 1C

Rob Nixon’s “Husband’s Friend From Work” will be shown as a part of this year’s Photofest at the Artport Gallery throughJan. 13. ROB NIXON

If you goWhat: Photofest 2019

When: Opening Reception 6 p.m. onFriday, Nov. 15, exhibit on displaythrough Jan. 13

Where: Artport Gallery, 3300 CapitalCircle SW

Cost: Free and open to the public

Contact: For more information, call850-224-2500 or visit http://coca.talla-hasseearts.org/art-in-public-places/artport-gallery.

Rob Nixon is working with Polaroid pictures he took as a teenager for this year’sPhotofest at the Artport Gallery. ROB NIXON

“As a storyteller, you pick

certain aspects of conflict,

character, setting, and

subtext and you pull them

together into a narrative.” Rob Nixonstoryteller

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