Review

"War Toys", Archival Photographic Print.

Rusty Leffel
Street Photography

10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Corridor Art Space
4041 Mill Street
Kansas City, MO
816.931.6655

Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
Runs through: June 6

Artist's site: http://www.rustyleffel.com
Gallery site: http://www.gouldevans.com

You know those Wow, that building/face/image is amazing moments, when you kick yourself for not carrying a camera?

Those are the moments Rusty Leffel captures.

A weary-looking newspaper vendor peddles tabloid sensationalism;

A man sprints in the rain, his sandaled left foot -- the one driving him forward -- the only part of him in perfect focus;

A spray-painted graffiti tag exhorts, "READ MORE BOOKS"  -- under another tag that reads, "BOMB HARDER".

Leffel's Street Photography, now on display at the Corridor Art Space, is loaded with black-and-white testimonials to the good things that can happen when preparation and inspiration collide.

Occasionally -- as with War Toys, the photograph atop today's post --  Leffel has to be careful that the collision isn't physical as well.

He was traveling through Louisiana when he saw a store window in Logansport.  "It was full of GI Joe jeeps, which caught my eye originally," he said at last Friday's opening reception. "Then I saw the oil trucks going by, reflecting in the window. I thought, 'There's the real story: Oil and war. War toys.'"

Absorbed by the layered image, Leffel didn't consider the possibility of being hit by one of the oil trucks as he snapped the photo. "I nearly got myself run over, getting that shot," he says.

The Corridor Art Space is a display window of sorts, too. It's located in the Westport offices of the Gould Evans architectural firm, facing the Manor Square hallway. That puts a layer of glass between viewers and art, but distracting reflections are at a minimum because the gallery space is well-lit.

One piece is especially suited to the venue. It's a shot of a crumbling Brooklyn building, titled This is America I. The subtitle: "Build what you want." "That's perfect for an architectural firm, isn't it?" Leffel says. "This is America. Build what you want."

(The Corridor's current exhibit, which runs through early June, also includes still life oil paintings by Leffel's wife, Paula. Watch this site for a post on her work there. You can also see pieces by both of them at the Late Show Gallery in the Crossroads, and Rusty Leffel will be showing this coming weekend at the Brookside Art Annual.)

Wherever you go to see his Street Photography, you'll be glad Leffel had a camera to record these small, significant moments.