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Student & Campus Life

Through a Pinhole: A Dining staff member’s photo show opens at Rose House Dining Room

by Mark H. Anbinder

"A self-portrait is an unparalleled act of vulnerability. It is an act of sifting through the pain of existence, but at the same time reaching out a hand for human connection," says Joe Ziolkowski of Quester of Light, his photo show that opened in Flora Rose House in February. "Self-portraiture is a conscious exercise in existentialism; it can be likened to a literary work penned in the first-person. Through the act of self-portraiture, one casts oneself as both protagonist and antagonist in a crafted visual diary."

A person stands in a lake facing to the side in a black and white photo
Tabula Rasa, a 2023 self-portrait taken at Rochester's Durand Eastman Park on the shores of Lake Ontario.

JoeZ, as he bills himself, is not just a prolific self-portraitist and longtime photography instructor, he's a Cornell Dining employee who works at Rose House Dining Room. This winter's photo exhibit, made possible by the Cornell Class of 1966 Thriving RED program, allowed Joe to display his creative side to his Dining colleagues and the students who dine on West Campus.

A smiling person in the foreground takes a selfie with a trio of people just behind him. In the background, more people stand in front of a row of photos on the wall.
JoeZ takes a selfie with attendees at the photo show opening in February.

The photographer uses a Leonardo 4x5-inch pinhole camera and a homemade remote he created from a radio controlled car to take his self portraits. Images in the show are from as close to campus as Mount Pleasant in Freeville and Taughannock Falls State Park in the Town of Ulysses to as distant as the Mediterranean Sea in Lebanon and the West China Sea in Japan.

A row of photos framed and hung on a wall
JoeZ's photos were taken as close to campus as Freeville and as far away as Okinawa.

"Why create and place self-portraits side-by-side, year-by-year? The repetition, the curation, and the exhibition join together as a powerful statement, a litany of existence," muses JoeZ in his statement about the Quester of Light show. "These portraits allow one to affirm and internalize their own reality. This intimate visual record confirms 'I exist.'”

Quester of Light is on display in Rose House Dining Room through Friday, March 13th, and Joe Ziolkowski's work is on Instagram.

A person faces to the side. A row of framed photos is on the wall behind him.
Joe Ziolkowski poses facing to the side, as he does in his self portraits, with his photos in Flora Rose House.

About Cornell Dining

Cornell Dining is consistently ranked in the Princeton Review's top ten for best campus food among all colleges and universities in the country! That high rating comes from customer surveys, and reflects Cornell Dining's commitment to serving high-quality foods that are healthy and creatively prepared with genuine care for a diverse community. Cornell Dining operates about 30 on-campus eateries -- which include residential dining rooms, cafés, coffeehouses, food courts, and convenience stores -- and serves more than 23,000 meals a day to members of the Cornell community. For more information, visit dining.cornell.edu.