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A FOURTH OF JULY SALUTE TO LADY LIBERTYPhotographer Offers A Piece Of Liberty In Unique Museum ExhibitionBY DOROTHY WHITMOREWhen Lady Liberty%u2019s torch is relit at sundown on July 3rd, the event will be broadcast internationally via live television.However, that will not be the most spectacular image available of the worldfamous statue.Far superior are the two giant color transparencies of %u201cThe Lady%u201d on view in a photography show entitled %u201cLady in the Harbor%u201d currently at the Brooklyn Museum. The exhibit, which overwhelms you as you step into the Museum%u2019s art deco lobby, is the work of a San Francisco photographer, Ruffin Cooper.The 43-year-old Cooper, who was present at the opening, characterized his work as,%u201cshowing familiar objects in a new perspective.%u201d Before tackling Lady Liberty, Cooper photographed the Golden Gate bridge by shooting down from atop its towers. With the Statue, however, he shot from a helicopter by leaning out the window. He %u201cloved%u201d this experience, as this was his first aerial job and wasn%u2019t frightened by the copter%u2019s turbulence.The two multimax works are monumental in scale. One, depicting the crown and torch from overhead, measures 20 by 32 feet, and envelops you in its massiveness. The second, %u201cThe Lady at Sunset,%u201d is a stunning silhouette, 16 feet by 16 feet, which shows the statue highlighted by the setting sun, whose burnished glow is transmitted through the scaffolding%u2019s bars. Both were photographed last year.Cooper used a 35 mm. Nikon F, which is completely manual, and Kodachrome film.Then, a large 8 x 10 intemegative was made by Frank Bonifiglio at Imperial Color Labs in San Francisco.The other 10 prints, photographed in 1979, measure 3 feet by 4 feet, and reveal closeup views of minute details of the Lady.Most fascinating was a full face, semishadowed portrait with %u201cweep holes.%u201dThese holes, according to print curator Barbara Millstein, allow water to evaporate from inside the statue, and avoid collecting.Another intriguing portrait of the arm, upon close inspection, revealed the famousdimple which Bartoldi inserted there. I particularly liked the hand clasping the tablet with the raised date of July 4th, 1886, in roman numerals. The letters stand out in such sharp relief that you feel you could touch them.Cooper%u2019s photos are selling for $900, and have netted him $45,000 so far, after a twoyear display at the O.K. Harris Gallery inSoho.Cooper, who%u2019s been residing the past two years on Columbia Heights, plans tocelebrate the Fourth by shooting from his host%u2019s rooftop the relighting of the torch, and the parade of ships. He calls the Statue, %u201can American icon and the greatest and most beloved of them all.%u201dAgreeing with him, and revelling in his work were long-time museum members, Rose Weiss and Harriet Evanter. Mrs.Weiss gasped upon viewing the giant torch and crown transparency, %u201cIt%u2019s just wonderful, how did he get that view?%u201dThe Brooklyn Museum will celebrate the Statue of Liberty centennial with the exhibition, %u201cLiberty: Photographs by Ruffin Cooper%u201d in the Grand Lobby through Sept. 8. 200 Eastern Parkway. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10am - 5pm, Saturday 11am - 6pm and Sunday ipm - 6pm. Telephone, 638-5000.PILOT BOAT NEW YORKN e w Y o r k a n d N e w J e rs e y S a n d y H o o k P ilo tsS e rv in g th e p ilo ta g e n e e d s off N e w Y o r k H a rb o rs in c e 1 6 9 4201 Edgewater Street, Staten Island, N.Y. 10305 %u2022 (718) 448-3900Keeping the Spirit o f Liberty Alive in Newsprint_ Published by Serif Press, Incorporated..'s e r t i n o H m iu n t m i/ n R r o o U v n m HIts N e ig h b o rh o o d si ro e i v i n g u i c c ii w n . ii v illa g e a n d L o w er M a n h a tta n B usiness C o m m u n ity _ I 1 1 U395 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 11217, Telephone 718-643-1400p%u00ab0* 34, THE PHOENIX, July 3,1986