The plaza is the center of public life at UCI. On some days, it can be fairly quiet, whereas on others, it becomes "Main Street," lined with the canopies and tables of itinerant merchants, advocates of diverse causes and religions, and dozens of student clubs, extending for three-hundred yards along the pedestrian road that passes through it. Frank Cancian, anthropology professor emeritus and documentary photographer, has spent the last two years capturing photos of these activities. Through the end of winter quarter, his work will be on display in the Courtyard Study Lounge of the UCI Student Center. A public open house on January 19 will officially launch the exhibit.

"Main Street UCI"
Photo exhibit featuring the work of Frank Cancian, UCI Anthropology Professor Emeritus

Open House
Thursday, January 19, 2012
4:30-6:00 p.m.
UCI Student Center, Courtyard Study Lounge (Room B109)

About the exhibit:
In February 2009, after lunch with a friend, anthropologist and documentary photographer Frank Cancian stopped in the plaza at the University of California, Irvine to take pictures of a student campaigning for homecoming queen. Two weeks later, he found traveling evangelists interacting with students in the plaza, and he photographed them. About 75 photo sessions later (including two in 2011), his files included more than 3,000 photos of life on what he calls "Main Street UCI." The photographs on display feature four groups: Protests, Along the Street, Play and Performance, and God.

About the photographer:
Frank Cancian's photo projects include work among Italian peasant farmers in Lacedonia, Avellino (1957), and two books, Another Place: Photographs of a Maya Community, (1974) done in Zinacantan, Chiapas, Mexico, and Orange County Housecleaners, (2006) done with seven women working in Irvine, Laguna Beach, and Newport Beach. He was a professor of anthropology at UCI from 1976 to 1999 and is now a professor emeritus. His photo website is www.frankcancian.net.