Renata Breth’s students showcased their final black and white photography portfolio at the Sonoma Museum in Santa Rosa Jan. 25. The gallery displayed select photos that the artists chose to share with the public.

The artists worked with Breth for three full semesters, through beginner, intermediate and advanced black and white photography classes. Students developed their portfolios over the fall semester of 2013. Students were allowed to pick their own themes and base their portfolio on that theme.

Walking in, you will notice the diversity in the photographs that each artist has chosen and feel each one is better than the last. Each artist brought this uniqueness to their photos and the amount of care and dedication shines through them all.

Another very impressive part of the show is that for the final project the artists were required to develop all of their photos on fiber paper.

Printing on fiber paper is an exhaustive process that takes hours to properly develop and more than a day to finalize. This is because fiber paper printing is a high-quality archival process suitable for professional gallery work and fine art prints, as opposed to quicker processes like resin-coated, or plastic-coated, papers.

The effect on the prints they create is magnificent, with greater definition in the grays and a much finer finish. When seeing a side-by-side comparison of the same photo with different techniques, the difference is noticeable.

In total, eight of Breth’s students decided to hang and share their work with the public. Each artist was passionate about her photos, and for good reason.

Miranda Walli, one of the artists, has a series of photos with a haunting theme. These pictures are brilliant and immediately capture your eye. So many of the artists have the same effect as well, all eliciting different emotions and feelings.

Susie Torres’ street art shows amazing shots of people in everyday life that are impossible to take your eyes off of.

Donna Gaetano’s “abstract world” was hard to not get lost in. The photos range from Rose Antaki’s beautiful makeshift landscapes that trick the eye into thinking that all the shots are real world locations until it is explained that they are made out of food and household items, to Robin Enfield’s pictures of movement and growth.

The Black and White art gallery was Jan. 25 and 26.