This title was digitized by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA).
About Contemporary art/southeast. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1977-1980 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1980)
Art Photography: The Southern View city and arc there to be used,” McWilliams said. “Anyone with the strength of their convictions and the work can get an exhibition.” Besides the increased exhibit space, McWilliams and Crouse also cited the training and encourage ment which is being given by the schools in the area. Along with Georgia State University and Atlanta College of Art, both men cited the work being done in Tennessee, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, at their respective universities. “There is a regional energy,” McWilliams said. “An energy of cooperation and an exchange of ideas which is encouraging photography throughout the Southeast.” One question which arises from this regional encouragement and growth in photography is whether such regionalism also fosters a different, identifiable style. In other words, does the regional identity attributed to Southern writers, such as Faulkner or Williams, also exist in photography? “Two or three years ago I would have said ‘no,’ ” answered McWilliams, “but now 1 believe such a difference does exist in some of the work being done. To explain this, you have to understand that photo graphy reflects the personal orientation of each pho tographer. It reflects his or her unique point of view." “If you put 20 people on a balcony and tell each of “The Southeast is becoming a haven for art photo graphers because of the special environment which exists here,” said Jay Crouse, founder of the Atlanta Gallery of Photography. “This is especially true of Atlanta which seems to be developing into the center for the arts in the Southeast. Artists are coming to the area, and once here, they want to remain. “In the past, Southern intellectuals and artists were forced to move to the north,” Crouse explained, “because opportunities existed there for them to prac tice their trade. But this is no longer true. The oppor tunities and support they desire and need now exist within this area.” A similar view was expressed by John McWilliams IV, senior professor of photography at Georgia State University. “There is a supportive atmosphere in the Southeast which does not seem to exist as much in other areas,” McWilliams said. “There seems to be an enthusiasm and energy that is infectious.” Among those cited by McWilliams for their sup port arc Nexus Gallery, the High Museum of Art and the Atlanta Gallery of Photography, which demon strate their encouragement by making the needed exhibition space available, and by encouraging print sales. “There is communication between these three places; Nexus, the High Museum and the Atlanta Gallery of Photography have worked together to have lectures, workshops and exhibitions in conjunc tion with each other. “The space, the walls, the lights are available in the St. Philip Street, New Orleans;®1979 by Christopher Harris. (Shot for Newsweek). The growth in the acceptance of photography as an art during the past decade can be demonstrated in the southeast and throughout the country. Art galleries which once scoffed at the idea of photography as art are now holding exhibits. Book publishers, who once ignored the field, are now competing for the right to publish elaborate and expensive coffee table volumes which contain the works of recognized photographic masters. Public interest in the field can also be shown by the increased number of photography galleries, sidewalk exhibits, festival displays, and the resulting sales of prints at spiralling prices. There remains little doubt that the interest in pho tography, both as an art and as a business, is growing and becoming financially lucrative. The effects of this growth are being felt in the Southeast. To help determine the effects this new popularity in photography is having in the Southeast, selected interviews were conducted with representatives from the major cities in the region where museums or schools foster an environment for growth in the art. Those interviewed were selected because of their posi tions as curators or directors of museums or galleries where photography is exhibited, or because the indi vidual is an instructor of art photography at a school within the selected cities. Atlanta
