Sean Yuan’s ‘Power Play’ on exhibit in the Schoonover Center

Style rather than movement -- each dancer wears carefully picked clothing to emphasize the extension of the human body in motion. 

This is one of the conceits of the photographic work of Sean Yuan whose series of images, titled "Power Play," is currently on display at the VisCom Gallery in Room 140 of Ohio University’s Schoonover Center. The show has served as the curtain-raiser for the lineup of exhibits for this academic year from the School of Visual Communication. 

Dancing, according to Yuan, fascinates him as one of the oldest known art forms. For centuries, dancing has been used as a communication method to pass on experiences and stories from one generation to the next. Dance can be categorized by movement and choreography, religion, or by dancing styles and habits varying between them. 

Yuan was born in the winter of 1990 and grew up in Qingdao, China. In 2020, he studied commercial photography in the U.S. and graduated with a master's degree from OHIO’s School of Visual Communication. As a photographer, he aims to study the tension between realism and surrealism. His practice is diverse — ranging from still to motion. He is currently running a photo studio in Brooklyn, New York, and his work can be seen online on his website. 

The exhibit will be open to the public through Oct. 8, 2022. Admission is free and the gallery is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.