Atlanta Celebrates Photography | October 2014

September 2014

Atlanta Celebrates Photography

Intro

Over the past 16 years Atlanta Celebrates Photography has grown to become the largest annual community-oriented photo festival in the United States. Each year during the month of October the city of Atlanta becomes a visual panorama of all things photography. In a mere 31 days Atlanta is immersed with over 160 public exhibitions; lecture series featuring leading photographers, educators, and curators; the film series which celebrates the moving image with evocative and engaging events; public art projects throughout the city; the always-popular Photobook Fair where you may easily expand your collection; My Atlanta – a push pin show open to public participation; Portfolio Reviews with the crème de la crème of the photo world; and last but not least, the Photography Auction culminating all the festivities.

Amy Miller asked four visiting dignitaries, some of whom have visited the South and some of whom will be making their first foray into our territory, about their expectations and desires for this October.

Enjoy their thoughts, and don’t forget to peruse the list at the end of (some… whew, there are so many) events coming up with Atlanta Celebrates Photography.
-editor

Elizabeth Avedon

Elizabeth Avedon

ELIZABETH AVEDON is an independent curator and contributor to L’oeil de la Photographie. She has received recognition for her curatorial work and publishing projects, including the exhibitions and books: Avedon: 1949-1979 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Avedon: In the American West for the Amon Carter Museum, the Corcoran Gallery, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the High Museum, Atlanta. Former Director of Photo-Eye Gallery, Santa Fe, and Creative Director for The Gere Foundation, Elizabeth wrote the essay, “Self Portrait: My Impressions of Vivian Maier,” for Vivian Maier: Self Portraits. Elizabeth has been reviewing portfolios at national events including The NY Times Lens Blog Portfolio Review, Photolucida, Review Santa Fe, Filter Photo Festival, FlashForward Festival, ASMP-NY and others. She is a 2014 juror for the New York Photo Festival’s “PhotoWorld2014”, Magenta Foundation’s FlashForward Emerging Photographers Competition, Castell Gallery’s International Juried exhibition, and 2013 juror for Darkroom Gallery’s Faces exhibition. She is listed as one of TIME Magazine’s 140 Best Twitter Feeds to follow in 2014. Quoting Daniel Power, CEO PowerHouse Books and NYPH, “Elizabeth Avedon has one of the most authoritative blogs on Photography” http://elizabethavedon.blogspot.com 

Amy Miller: Tell us a little bit about who you are, and what your role in this year’s ACP event will be. 

Elizabeth Avedon: I’ve been involved with every aspect of photography collaborating with museums, publishing houses, galleries and artists. At this year’s ACP, I will (hopefully) offer a helpful personal critique, as well as looking for that magical essence in photographs to publish on my photo-journal or profile on L’OeildelaPhotographie.com. I try to be a committed advocate for artists.

Elizabeth Avedon: When you think of photography in the American South what comes to mind, and why? The Old South first comes to mind, where the past has left a commanding presence. Spanish moss on the live oak trees, the sweltering heat of summer, stray dogs and puppies, fireflies and dragonflies, gravel roads, huge breezy houses on decaying plantations, poverty and abundance, legacies and family portraits. Gracious beauty. Of course I know the new modern South as well, but ghosts of the past still inhabit an intangible space for me in the American South.

AM: The South is noted for its distinctive culture – arts, food, music, etc. What part of that are you most looking forward to experiencing while attending ACP? 

EA: I’d like to take a short whirlwind tour of the museums and galleries. I was first introduced to Atlanta’s High Museum when I designed the exhibition, Richard Avedon: In the American West there years ago. I was impressed then with the balance of the new Atlanta living side-by-side with the old. I know the city has since become a huge center for contemporary art and photography which I look forward to seeing, along with a little southern food!

AM : The ACP experience includes many aspects of the fine art photography world today: portfolio reviews and walks, lectures, the auction, not to mention the exhibitions themselves. What are you most looking forward to experiencing, and why? 

EA: At the portfolio reviews, I’m looking forward to meeting new photographers, and getting reacquainted with those I’ve reviewed in the past, to see exceptional new images and the opportunity to see work in progress.

Aidan Sullivan

Aiden Sullivan

Amy Miller: Tell us a little bit about who you are, and what your role in this year’s ACP event will be. 

Aidan Sullivan: Perhaps oddly, I still refer to and consider myself a photographer as that is how I spent the formative years of my life. I have worked in this industry for forty years in various capacities and roles, have reveled in and enjoyed all of them as I learn something new every day, and have had the privilege to work with some of the world’s greatest photographers and art directors. Never a dull moment. I now run Photo Assignments for Getty Images and Reportage which is our flagship home for the very best of our photojournalism that I launched some 6 years ago.

AM: When you think of photography in the American South what comes to mind, and why? 

AS: Right now, Gene Richards. He has just created an outstanding book with his amazing work from the Delta using both contemporary and archive material. It is a masterpiece, red ball of a sun slipping down…. Other than that, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans. I was greatly moved by the FSA, and one of my favorite works of all time is Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.

AM: The South is noted for its distinctive culture – arts, food, music, etc. What part of that are you most looking forward to experiencing while attending ACP? 

AS: Going out to eat BBQ with Barbara.

AM: The ACP experience includes many aspects of the fine art photography world today – portfolio reviews and walks, lectures, the auction, not to mention the exhibitions themselves. What are you most looking forward to experiencing, and why? 

AS: This will be my second time at the ACP. The energy and the enthusiasm are remarkable and it is a real pleasure to be amongst people who really appreciate photography

Paul Kopeikin

Amy Miller: Tell us a little bit about who you are, and what your role in this year’s ACP event will be. 

Paul Kopeikin: I have owned a gallery in Los Angeles since 1991 and in that time have produced a couple of hundred exhibitions of vintage, modern, classic and contemporary photography, as well as other mediums. In that 20 + years I have also participated in numerous art fairs, lectures, panel discussions and portfolio reviews. The one review I have been hoping to participate in is ACP’s and so I was particularly excited when asked to come out this year. As a reviewer I am known for my blunt and pointed criticism, feeling that photographers need to bring a thick skin and above average portfolio to the process. Aside from my profession, I am the father of a wonderful 14 year old daughter named Ella, an avid gardener, kayaker, traveler and hiker. I follow politics closely, sports not at all, and remain optimistic about life.

AM: When you think of photography in the American South what comes to mind, and why? 

PK: Eggleston and Christenberry immediately come to mind because there are no other photographers as immediately associated with a specific part of the country as these two amazing men. It’s no wonder their work is so narrative since many Southern writers come to mind

AM: The South is noted for its distinctive culture – arts, food, music, etc. What part of that are you most looking forward to experiencing while attending ACP? 

PK: I love “Southern hospitality” and shrimp with cheesy grits.

AM: The ACP experience includes many aspects of the fine art photography world today – portfolio reviews and walks, lectures, the auction, not to mention the exhibitions themselves. What are you most looking forward to experiencing, and why? 

PK: I am really looking forward to cramming as much of everything that I can into the three days I am in town, and hope I’ll be able to come back for more.

Storm Janse van Rensburg

Amy Miller: Tell us a little bit about who you are, and what your role in this year’s ACP event will be. 

Storm Janse van Rensburg: I am an independent curator of contemporary art, with a particular interest in photography, largely focused on lens-based media in a fine-art context. I am South African born, currently living and working in Berlin, Germany, since 2012. Most recently I curated Oblique, an ongoing traveling project by Abrie Fourie, and A temporary admission by Bridget Baker. Both artists work mainly in photography and film, with a strong emphasis on installation-based practices. I have been invited to the 2014 ACP event for portfolio readings, and I am really looking forward to learning more about the artists and photographers presenting their work.

AM: When you think of photography in the American South what comes to mind, and why? 

VR: Firstly, I am no expert when it comes to photography from the region. However, during the course of the last year I had the privilege to engage with graduate and post-graduate photography students from SCAD, and it was my first close engagement with young photographers from the American South. I was particularly taken with the work of Melissa Spitz in Savannah, and Alicia Collins and Ervin Alex Johnson in Atlanta. Whilst their work is diverse, I was taken with the bravery of their subject matter, and also with the technical and formal quality of the work, whilst pushing the boundaries of the medium. I also have great respect for veteran Atlanta photographer and academic Elizabeth V. Turk and the guidance she offers within her teaching practice, whilst also encouraging experimentation with the medium of photography.

In a more general way, I cannot help but see similarities between South Africa and the American South – in terms of broader social-political issues and how it finds reflection in contemporary visual art practices. Similarly, it seems that photography in the American South, as in South Africa, is strongly biased towards documentary or photojournalistic modes, with a preoccupation with notions of identity and re-tracing of personal histories within complex larger human interactions. Here the work of Brandon Thibodeaux, Tamara Reynolds and Greg Miller comes to mind. Furthermore, I think that the work done by the photographer Dave Herman Jr., and the initiative Preservation LINK, Inc. based in Dallas, Texas, is invaluable in not only developing the medium of photography and photojournalism, but also for the impact and potential of the creative industries in youth development.

AM: The South is noted for its distinctive culture – arts, food, music, etc. What part of that are you most looking forward to experiencing while attending ACP? 

VR: I am looking forward to meeting exciting new talent, and to also learn more about Atlanta. It will be my second visit to the city and I’m looking forward to diving in deeper!

AM: The ACP experience includes many aspects of the fine art photography world today. Portfolio reviews and walks, lectures, the auction, not to mention the exhibitions themselves. What are you most looking forward to experiencing, and why? 

VR: Besides the exciting educational and social programs planned, I am looking forward to the portfolio reviews. It is a real privilege to engage with practitioners on a one-on-one basis, and the format of the readings also happens within an intense and charged frame. So, I find them really wonderful platforms for really getting to the core of things, so to speak – what motivates an artist, the choices that they make, and then also to trust one’s instinct in providing constructive feedback. I love talking about art and with artists – so, thank you for the opportunity!

Atlanta Celebrates Photography 2014 Short List of Events: