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
