Photographer Mary No'l McMillian charts vital territory with this locally focused yet universally understood exhibition. Her viewfinder evokes, within a few dozen prints mined from thousands, a sustained intimacy that would have gone unshared: A tuxedoed groom paces moments before crossing his threshold; a retiree leans against a hand-stitched blanket behind walls paid for by her life's work; a girl, bare-bellied, waits while framed by an outsize sunflower rising as if from a fevered dream.

McMillan's images grow from a rigorous yet deeply imagined approach to the self, seen through strangers' eyes in a landscape where boundaries melt. Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, her subjects are neighbors who can slip unseen through the years by those at home a few dozen feet away. The photographer journeys for us, past fenced civilities to a dreamed-of common ground, where lives become clear in a vision-giving lens.

In 1999, this solo exhibition was mounted in connection with the City of Alexandria 250th Anniversary. Recently, Ms. McMillian began work on, and is exhibiting prints from, two portfolios: "Out of the House," a passionate exploration of rowing, and "The Bishop's Garden," a photographic dialogue within a spiritual environment at the Washington National Cathedral.

The exhibit is free and open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Gallery talks and public programs with the photographer will be held throughout the run of the exhibition.

The Alexandria Black History Resource Center is committed to collecting, preserving and interpreting the African-American history and culture of Alexandria, Virginia and to assessing its impact on the greater metropolitan area. The Center is located at 638 North Alfred Street in Alexandria. For further information, call 703-838-4356.