Retrospective Shows in Georgia and Mississippi

Fischer Galleries in Jackson, MS had a one-evening show to Celebrate Mississippi Photographers on August 18th, 2016. 

Mississippi photographers featured in this show included, among others, Jack Spencer, Maude Schuyler Clay, Birney Imes, Ellen Rodgers, Betty Press, James Patterson, Suzi Altman, Kay Holloway and Anne Bryant. 

Seems like a lot of time and energy to put into mounting a show of such high quality work  for only one evening, but fine photographs always deserve to be displayed well, and as often as possible.

Congratulations to the folks at the Fischer Galleries for celebrating the photographers of Mississippi.

Also in a retrospective mode, Atlanta's Museum of Contemporary Art (MocaGa) is hosting a show of photographs by contemporary Georgia photographers, opening September 3rd, and up through December 3rd, 2016.
 
The show is entitled Edge to Edge. According to Chip Simone, who curated the show, the goal is to provide the first ever statewide survey of contemporary Georgia photography.  

The show includes 80 images by 60 photographers, and includes among the shooters work by Ben Helton (see image directly above), Jack Leigh, Constance Thalken, Beate Sass, Jodi Fausett, and Teri Darnel.

The folks at MocaGa note that "Photography has taken a prominent place in the artistic culture of the contemporary South. 

"Once limited to the traditional themes of the rural and historic south; of rustic barns and rusted trucks; of simple living and country ways, the photographs in this exhibition are modern and reflect a more diverse and complicated world. 

"They mirror modern concerns and coincide with the transition from traditional wet process photography to the technical wonders of the digital age. 

"The photographs reveal a more diverse, vibrant and unsettled south which is part of a new demographic that finds most southerners living in urban and suburban centers. 

"The work in this exhibit will reflect many of the changes that are redefining the modern south.

"These pictures will challenge the viewer who is expecting southern stereotypes with mysterious narratives, poetic revelations, and complex abstractions.

"The exhibition will present a richly diverse array of the many varied ways contemporary photography is being used artistically and expressively by photographers from across our state, corner to corner and edge to edge. 

Edge to Edge is dedicated to Georgia born photographer Paul Kwilecki (1928-2009), who the folks at MocaGA describe as “the greatest documentary photographer you’ve never heard of," because of his 40-year-long project to photograph in Decatur County, Georgia, and his reticence about promoting his work. 

A selection of Kwilecki's work will be included in the Edge to Edge show.

So, lots of photographs taken in Georgia to look forward to at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Atlanta

And the fall festival Atlanta Celebrates Photography is just around the corner.