The impulse to create a world that we have complete control over fascinated photographer Sage Sohier. After seeing a friendย’s model train display, which had consumed his entire basement, she got the idea for her series ย“Perfectible Worlds.ย” ย“This kind of absorption,ย” Sohier has said, ย“what we do in an imperfect world to console ourselves, struck me as a subject worthy of exploration.ย”

In ย“Perfectible Worldsย” we see a young girl prepare for show riding, a middle-aged man oil himself up for bodybuilding and a Brooklyn man look with satisfaction at an enormous nativity scene heย’s created. At once familiar and foreign, amusing and disconcerting, the portraits document passion, obsession and the very common need to control. Meet Sohier at an opening reception today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Regular viewing hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays, and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Through October 26. Houston Center for Photography, 1441 West Alabama. For information, call 713-529-4755 or visit www.hcponline.org. Free.

Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: Sept. 12. Continues through Oct. 19, 2008

This article appears in Sep 11-17, 2008.