Scott Lieberman’s Photos Featured at TMA

TYLER – The East Texan who shot one of the most-published photographs in history is in the spotlight with the Tyler Museum of Art’s latest major exhibition, “Scott M. Lieberman, M.D.: At the Vantage Point.” Opening to the public yesterday, “At the Vantage Point” represents the first-ever solo museum exhibition for Lieberman, the Tyler cardiologist who gained instant international acclaim for his digital photograph capturing the Space Shuttle Columbia’s re-entry disintegration over East Texas on February 1, 2003. The exhibition prominently features the image of the Columbia disaster that earned Pulitzer Prize nominations for Lieberman, the Tyler Morning Telegraph and the Associated Press, and landed on the cover of Time magazine and the front pages of more than 100 newspapers worldwide.

In addition to the iconic Space Shuttle photograph, “At the Vantage Point” highlights more than 75 images representing Lieberman’s decade-long sideline career as a photojournalist with the AP and numerous publications, encompassing a broad spectrum of subject matter including celebrity portraits, sporting events, nature tableaus, and aerial photography. Organized by the TMA and guest curated by Robert Langham, the exhibition takes its title from Lieberman’s philosophy of combining the fundamentals of photography with an acute sense of being “in the right place at the right time” to create a memorable image.

“It is my belief that my goal in photography is to make a photo that tells a story of an event or a place,” he said. “Sometimes that is obvious, but I think the secret is in anticipating an event that is not apparent, until the shutter is opened. I often imagine the image that I want to get, like a catalogue in my mind.”

The exhibition runs through July 13 in the TMA’s North Gallery. It will be available for viewing during regular Museum hours of 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. For information, visit http://www.tylermuseum.org or call (903) 595-1001.