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)
an extremely difficult medium that on the suface looks easy. Most of photography at all levels of inter est is trash, fooling with seductive aspects of photo graphic materials or tools, or work derivative of past successes of others, fads, or appeals to more or less prurient interests. Very little, however, floats,” To understand this, Maguire believes one has to realize that still photography is a medium not affected by new trends. “In a way,” Maguire said, “no innovations are possible, only more photographs. The photographer uses a chemical/mechanical pro cess to produce an image which seems to describe what something looks like. The way this is done, like genetic code, was defined by the first photographs made 150 years ago. For example, Talbot saw a beau tifully sunlit breakfast table and wanted to describe it; or rather, to let the photograph describe it. “A still photographer deals with the relationship between what he shows and how he shows it,” Maguire explained, “and the relationship has to be an intensely interesting balance between what and how. Few photographers concentrate successfully on the kind of work that produces this balance. Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus are a few exam ples.” The success of a photographer and the establish ment of photography as an art form, according to Maguire, depends upon how well this balance is rec ognized and reproduced. “As Garry Winogrand wrote, ‘Nothing is as mysterious as a fact clearly described,’ ” Maguire quoted, “and it is the nature of photography to describe better than the eye can see. It is, of course, a manipulation, a device, a fiction, a lie. It is clearer focusing of the shadows of Plato’s cave.” Maguire has chosen the South as his area to focus on because of its special subject matter. “The content that I want to approach is here,” Maguire said. “My eyes cannot be satiated by the way people and places look in the mysterious South of Sidney Lanier and Flannery O’Conner, nor in the tropical wetness of Miami.” New Orleans “The assured continuation in the popularity of photography can be demonstrated by the commit ment made by major mlRt-uim m mmpllu »ulUa tions,” said John Bullard, Director, New Orleans Museum of Art. “It can also be shown by the fact that many artists who have been known for their work in painting or sculpture are entering the field of photo graphy, which in the past they used as a hobby rather than as their major activity. They have learned from these other art forms and are applying it to their work as photographers.” The popularity of photography can also be shown by the positive public reaction Bullard has seen while working at the New Orleans Museum of Art, which—according to Bullard—has the largest collec tion of photographs in the Southeast. He attributes this popularity, at least in part, to the many famous photographers, such as Edward Weston, Bellocq and Laughlin, who have visited or lived there. “The effect of their work here has been to establish a tradition of photography in New Orleans, which contributes to its popularity.” But if the presence of these photographers have had an influence on the acceptance of photography in the region, has the region, conversely, had an effect upon the photography being produced? According to Bullard, some photographers have combined the Southern gothic tradition into their work in surreal "Mountain Doctor" by Philip H. Morgan of Green ville, N.C., is one of 64 pieces of art photography within the R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. collection. The work was selected from some 1,700 entries in a statewide photography competition held last fall. changes in the interest of the photographers them selves.” Among the changes which Quartermann cites are the increased use of color and a return to the larger format cameras. “A few years ago everyone went to smaller cameras because of their portability. Now, when quality cameras, lenses and film exist which make good images and good resolution possible with the smaller cameras, photographers are returning to _ihr Inrpi-r ones. There is also a trend toward more color photography, where in the past, only a few were interested because it was not as permanent as black and white. Now, with improvements in chemistry which makes the prints more permanent, cheaper and easier to do, everyone seems to be going to color,” Quartermann said. The effect of these changes in the interests of pho tographers will be reflected in the work exhibited by the museums and galleries. “The permanence of these photographs may be less," Quartermann said, “but if photographers are doing their best work in color the museums and collectors will be forced to accept it." But just as the changes in the interests of photo graphers affect museums, Quartermann also sees the possible influence museums and collectors tnay someday have on the work produced by photo graphers. “The new popularity and the resulting boom in the sales of photographs have, as yet, had little effect upon the type work being produced by photographers. I do not now know of any photog rapher who is altering the content of his photo graphs to increase the chances of their being sold. But anytime you have galleries springing up whose survi val depends upon the money brought in by sales," “Popularity in photography has been building lor years,” says Dale Quartermann, associate professor of photography, Virginia Commonwealth Univer sity, “and it will continue to grow. Some areas of popularity may fade, but this will be due to the ism. “Surrealism means the super real. The reality of the unconscious, of dreams, of fantasy. It is fantasy made real by the photographer who pictorializes his private fantasies or dreams. “Some photographers, such as Clarence John Laughlin, have combined surrealism with the South ern background—draping moss in the trees, South ern mansions, tombstones. Photographs such as these utilize subjects which can only be found in the South, and therefore have a Southern identity. “Other Southern photographers, such as Jerry Uelsmann and the late Ralph Meatyard, use the sur realistic imagery, yet their photographs could have been taken in other parts of the country,” Bullard ~r-r;n~*This surrealistic mode is occuring all over the country in many different styles. - “You could put together a Southern exhibit using this stylistic trend,” Bullard explained, “but it would- ignore the works of many others.” Josh Pailette, a New Orleans photographer, adds, “The question is: Do people in the Southeast see differently than those in the West or East; and I believe the answer is yes. “In the South you are bombarded with who is in and who is out in the art circles. You are isolated. In New York you must keep aware of what everyone else is doing. The South gives you the freedom of creativ ity. “The work of Southern photographers is not as visible, but this allows them time to concentrate on their work. In the long run, this will make the work being done in the South more significant." I 15
