Former OU art professor Carol Beesley gave a gallery talk yesterday about a selection of photographs from her personal collection.

The collection is currently on display at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in an exhibition titled “The Creative Eye: Selections from the Carol Beesley Collection of Photographs in Honor of Michael Hennagin.”

Beesley spoke about specific photographs that were on display, her collection as a whole and her general passion for photography.

She said one of the things that attracts her to photography is anyone can create a beautiful image with a camera, no matter his or her level of training.

“I’ve never been terribly concerned with whether or not I’m acquiring a work by a famous photographer,” Beesley said. “I’ve always been much more interested in whether or not it was a good photograph.”

At the talk, Beesley was accommodating to the crowd of attendees and fielded questions about photographs that are part of the current selection, as well as questions about her life as a photography collector and advocate.

One of the most talked about images was a Frederick Sommer photograph called “Jack Rabbit,” which is a close up of a decaying jack rabbit in the sand.

The Sommer photograph seemed to initially strike the viewers as provocative.

“I adore his elegant sense of mortality,” Beesley said. “He records subject matter that would repulse most viewers and with it makes haunting photographs about the transitory beauty of this world.”

Attendee Roxanne Brantes of Oklahoma City said she feels the same way that Beesley does about photography.

“It’s an art form that everyone use,” Brantes said.

Ghislain d’Humieres, director and head curator of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, announced at the end of the gallery talk that the current photos are just the beginning of the exhibition of Beesley’s expansive collection.

D’Humieres said 15 new photographs will take the place of the 15 on display now, and after the construction of a new museum wing that will include a photography gallery, a retrospective of Beesley’s entire collection will take place.