Point, Shoot, and Trip

No photographer can resist abandoned carnivals, with all their rusted clowns and broken-down midways, but Chris Raecker teases that same surreal, haunted vibe out of fully functioning amusement parks, even ones big enough to support corkscrew coasters. He shoots in black-and-white and grabs huge chunks of open sky, cut through with clouds, sometimes featuring just a snatch of a rider being catapulted through space. In his exhibit "A Midnight Carnival," he gets his ghostly effect with digital means, and the dusky, nostalgic loneliness is as much about the drama of nature as the dark mystery of a traveling show.
Jan. 24-March 1, 2008