Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Updates -- and the Challenges of Doing this Blog

Mississippi-based photographer Don Norris is the Texas Photographic Society's Emerging Photographer of the Month for February.

Don's portfolio on the TPS' website consists of 10 images of antebellum Protestant meeting houses Don has found in Alabama and Mississippi. Don has a fine eye for elegance, simplicity, light, and composition, and for the givenness of things as they are. This work invites meditation, contemplation, repose for the eye.

Also, the Ogden Museum of Southern Arts in New Orleans (925 Camp Street) has a couple of shows up now that will be of interest to readers of this blog. One is called On Location: Southern Portraits, described as "an exhibition of photographic portraits set in public spaces, or in the private spaces of the subject."

 The other show at the Ogden is Birney Imes: Selections from Partial to Home - Photographs of Mississippi, which is described as "a candid exploration of African-American culture over a ten-year period in a region of Mississippi that fiercely resists change." Birney Imes is described as a resident of "Columbus, Mississippi, where he is still Editor and Publisher of The Dispatch, the daily newspaper.

I'm using passive constructions here because for this entry I'm stuck with what the TPS website and the Ogden Museum tell me. I can't find a website for either of these photographers, so I can't get much of a feel for their work.

Birney Imes once had a show at the Jackson Fine Art Gallery in Atlanta, so there is this information about him. He also had a show at the Rose Gallery in Santa Monica, California, so there is this portfolio, but all the images are in flash so I can't show you any.

UPDATE on Birney Imes, with thanks to Daniel -- Birney was more active as a photographer in the 1990's than recently. Amazon.com lists three books of his work here, including Partial to Home, from which the work at the Ogden seems to be taken, but also Juke Joint (the portfolio he showed at Jackson Fine Art) and another one, Whispering Pines.  So its good to know that Birney is still getting recognition for his work from back then.

If anyone else knows of a website for either Don Norris or Birney Imes, please let me know.

The biggest challenges of doing this blog, I find, are photographers who do not have their own websites, museums and galleries that have uninformative websites, and websites that use flash so I can't download the images.

Folks, I'm trying to be helpful here. Please do your part! JNW
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 23, 2011 at 5:49 PM

    I still haven't had the chance to personally see the Birney Imes exhibit, but will soon. Unfortunately, you seem to be correct-- I can't find a website for him anywhere. Adding to your internet research, I was able to find this book (http://www.amazon.com/Partial-Home-Photographers-at-Work/dp/1560984120/), which leads me to believe that this current Ogden exhibit is (possibly?) a selection from a larger Smithsonian exhibit from 1994. I'm tempted to drop $4 dollars on one of those used copies to find out. I'll update this comment after I learn more.

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  2. John N. Wall/PhotographerFebruary 24, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    Daniel, thank you for this update. I will add this information to the blog entry. Looks like Birney was more active as a photographer in the early 1990's -- three books listed on Amazon.com -- so its good that he is getting more recognition now. I guess he hasn't chosen to enter fully the digital age, however.

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