This is Not Thornton Wilder

Sometimes photographs can be viewed as a component of language, each image contributing to a larger idea. Some would call this documentary but, as usual, there is a fluid quality that defies definition. With photographs we can reach across cultural gaps and speak a direct short hand, the difficult part is not to be too simplistic or to produce cliches. In Southern Memories, I wanted to be in the middle showing a world that was neither rich or poor. Small town America is seen as the place to be...there is that disconnect that says this is where only good things happen; you know your neighbor. I found photographs of a shrinking small town where the streets at night are overwhelmed by shadows and hopelessness in seeing another soul; light makes one feel vulnerable not safe and shadows add fear.

This is an Edward Hopper town when the last of the brave or unaware have made their way home to lock doors and hide. This is the town you want to drive through quickly. Using hi-contrast and German neo-expressionist lighting David Simonton has created images that reminded one of The Night of the Hunter and the stories my parents told. These are the small southern towns we hear about and dread.


John A Bennette

In the South

As I work on Southern Memories, The South started out as a magical place like all places children inhabit absolute good and evil that change moment to moment, shadows could become creatures and even wall paper could move, shape shift if you had to stay in bed and look at it for a day or two. Home and church filled your life - that was a constant.

So there are a few of these images in the show, some of the most interesting are done by Ms Jane Robbins Kerr, a woman who took up photography later in life and burns with a passion to make pictures and to tell stories with them. I met this Georgia lady in New York when she came to see a show of Sylvia Plachy work, I heard that accent and turned around to see a ball of energy and, of course had to ask that question; where are you from? Since then I have become one of the people on her journey. Ms Kerr as four images in the exhibition the one that stands out are her groupings of churches and houses taken in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Small black and white photographs that make you aware of the basic language of structures. Simple, almost naive, as if a child had drew them. You recognize them; they reassure. If one was to look at grander building you would find these basics in some variantions it is a human thing.

Because all the pictures have the same viewpoint and central placement in the camera's frame, one feels that they fall into the tradition of Topography. This is a clean and intellectual approach to making photographs but by her arrangements of images Ms Kerr has created rhythm and magic.

Speaking of magic, when I was a child, Sunday was an all day event from Sunday school to evening service. This was not a delightful day for a child of serendipity. That is why Anderson Scott's image of an abandoned(?) church with the words "Thank God' scribbled on the back wall behind the altar brings a smile to me --makes me pause; is it a tribute to something happening, a soul saved, or the realization that church is over for the day? Photography allows you to question the moment and the details of life. Is this the interior of a church Jane R Kerr photograph on her travels through 3 southern states as she found her way home.

I hope once all the pictures of Southern Memories come together that people will try to read the stories created by these photographs being placed in a room together. To look backward to see the good and the bad of a time leaving us now as each moment we move forward.

John A. Bennette

Show Opens Friday Sept. 17

There are both ethereal and ripe landscapes...portraits of the landed and the dispossessed...the traditions that we associate with raising in the country...the inescapable intimacy of the land and the weather, and the buildings and structures that reference southern memory and culture. Our jurors, Brett Levine and Jack Spencer have done a fantastic job selecting 78 images from a total of 668 submitted for this year's show. We thank them both for putting together a thoughtful, diverse and exciting body of work. We would not have had such a exciting show without the efforts of all the photographers who entered their work.

To all entering photographers -- for your courage in putting your work out there, we thank you. The SlowExposures Committee had the opportunity to see everyone's work--we all had our favorites that we will remember always. We hope that we will get to meet you all during the two weeks of the show. It's a fantastic opportunity to learn, to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow photographers, and to see some great images. Please consider joining us for the Salon at the Whiskey Bonding Barn, the Juror's Talk...or simply enjoy making the rounds of the "big show" and the satellite shows during these last two weeks in September. Introduce yourselves--we would love to put a name and a face with your images

Sincerely,
The SlowExposures Show Committee


Photographers for 2010
Nicole Akstein, Atlanta, GA
Jerry Atnip, Nashville, TN
Anne Berry, Newnan, GA
Linda Best, The Rock, GA
Donna Black, Fayetteville, GA
Eddie Booth, Gray, GA
Matt Bower, Atlanta, GA
David Boyd, Gay, GA
Myra Bullington, Clarion, PA
Margena Burnett, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Ken Callaway, Hiram, GA
Joe Cattoni, Roswell, GA
Paul Conlan, Newnan, GA
Myrtie Cope, Smyrna, GA
Cheryl D'Amato, Atlanta, GA
A.E. Davison, Douglasville, GA
Malgorzata Florkowska, Griffin, GA
Kenny Gray, West Point, GA
Raymond Grubb, Charlotte, NC
Gary Gruby, Senoia, GA
Nattawut Guname, Suwanne, GA
Rebecca Harlan, Johnson City, TN
Cindy Hodnette, Eufaula, AL
Warren Howell, Chapel Hill, NC
Julie Ivey, Forsyth, GA
Robert Jones, Dawsonville, GA
Owen Jones, Cumming, GA
Kisa Kavass, Franklin, TN
Diane Kirkland, Atlanta, GA
Sarah Moffett, Atlanta, GA
Becton Morgan, Savannah, GA
Suzi McKibben, Hogansville, GA
Wynne Ragland, Atlanta, GA
Brook Reynolds, Charlotte, NC
Breanne Sanders, Hiram, GA
Anderson Scott, Atlanta, GA
Rob Simmons, Atlanta, GA
Rita Songer, Cumming, GA
Phillip Spears, Fayetteville, GA
John Sumner, Atlanta, GA
Ellen Tew, Thomaston, GA
Colton Vincent, Atlanta, GA
Anne Walker, Peachtree City, GA
Chris Walker, Auburn, AL
Charlotte Weber, Barnesville, GA
Michael Weeks, Columbus, GA
Haley West, Sardis, MS

Pines

The things you love sometime go unnoticed until you let your mind wander or stop thinking at all. That moment came to me when I saw Pines by Donna Rosser. All of a sudden I remembered my attachment to trees. The years of laying beneath them reading, dreaming or talking with friends. The awareness that some trees and forests of the south are cathedrals reach reaching up with focused effort to be with the sun while creating pools and shadows of protection beneath their canopies. For many years I rode through and by forests and trees when I took the Silver Crescent which created a different view often blurred sometimes close as leaves and branches pressed against panes of glass. The tall pine trees were struggling in a sea of rope like plants. Then I could see the real world was just blue and green and that world was at war too. In New York I am lucky there is a strip of forest primeval across the street and below my window is a well maintained garden. In front of my apartment building there stand two magnolias. So I do not miss trees, I just never experience them until I come home. Then I walk among them look up thorough and see light.
John A Bennette

About Snow

A good life will have structure, order and tradition but a great life will also include moments of serendipity, music and magic. This image SNOW by Jo Lynn Still for me represents the great life. I started to look at Jo Lynn's photographs at Atlanta Celebrates Photography in 2006 and our paths crossed over the years, but I could not find a way to contact her until Facebook and while flipping through her many fine photographs this one stopped me. I knew that I wanted it in my southern show and over time it moved to center stage. How can snow be a southern memory, ask any child that has looked out of a window in wonder, ask any child that has run and laughed for an hour with cold crystals falling all around in an alien landscape. One of my primal memories as a child was my first snow in the fifties in Birmingham Alabama my parents brought me my first Brownie Camera. We made a sad snowman .... This is a happy photograph, we look up at a brilliant blue sky our heads tilted back, maybe our tongues are trying to catch the snow. Flakes and laughter brushing against our cheeks -- what a memory because it is all gone, fleeting except for this picture at this moment.

John A. Bennette

From Jo Lynn....I am Jo Lynn Still , a mostly self-taught photographer and a self-described emotional shooter. I was born and raised in what was once called the Kaolin Capital of The World: Washington County, Georgia. I will always call this place home. One of my goals as an artist is to prove that success can be obtained from a rural location. This will take meeting individuals that have access to the art world outside of my comfort zone. Portfolio reviews are invaluable sources of contacts and critique. I have made a wonderful contact and friend through a portfolio review and a Slow Exposures photography salon. Several years ago at my first portfolio review I met Manhattan based John A. Bennette: curator, collector and critic . His honest critique of my work encouraged me to keep shooting. I thank him for that particular 20 minutes of attention back in 2006. And I especially thank him for including 3 of my images in his “Southern Memories:Part One” exhibition. This opportunity is payoff for years of shooting. I seldom arrange the subjects of my images and I can easily lose inspiration if I get bogged down in technique. Some believe this is a weakness and I will be the first to agree that I’m just not that good at producing a “perfect photograph”. John’s eye sees beyond my short-comings and that feels great! It’s similar to the feeling I had while photographing our snow-fall in February 2010. Snow can make a southerner revert to childhood in a flash. For me, snow conjures images of getting out of school early, rushing to the grocery store to get bread and milk before the shelves were empty and playing for hours in what little snow fell. The milk, of course, was for making snow ice cream. One of my photographs John chose for the exhibition is SNOW. If you look at SNOW and imagine that I was dancing around in the woods with my camera, randomly pointing it towards the sky and laughing, you are correct. A combination of emotion and equipment produced an image of sheer happiness frozen in time (no pun intended). I am excited about the exhibition. I look forward to meeting photography fans and fellow photographers. Thank you John A. Bennette and Slow Exposures Photography

Salon

SlowExposures has assembled an interesting panel of photography professionals for the third annual Salon. In less than two weeks, you will have an outstanding opportunity to hear from and communicate with experts in the field of Fine Art Photography. This is an opportunity not to be missed! Our panelists for the 2010 Salon are John Bennette, curator and lecturer, NYC; Tony Cassadonte, director of the Lumiere Gallery, Atlanta; Gary Gruby, fine art and commercial photographer, Senoia; and Rob McDonald, fine art photographer and book author, Lexington, VA.

The SlowExposures Salon begins on Sunday, September 19 at 1:00 with a picnic lunch. The Salon is scheduled from 2:30 until 4:00. The Salon will be held at the historic Whiskey Bonding Barn in Molena where you can view John Bennette’s satellite show “Southern Memories Inside Out”. To sign up for the Salon, please visit our website at http://www.slowexposures.org/. If you prefer, you may sign up for the Salon by visiting A Novel Experience or by contacting Harriet Moultrie (use the contact form on the Salon page of the SlowExposures website.)

(Photograph by Ellen Tew, 2009 Salon)

Southern Memories

Southern Memories : Part One is not only about the South or memory, for me it is also dedicated to the artists who participate in making photographs that allow us to stop; to see, and in seeing reflect about our world inside and out. This year SlowExposures will be doing their first photo reviews. I am often asked about the benefits of reviews and juried shows. I believe they are necessary for an artist to be seen because most photographic artists do not have easy access to their audience. A lot of them work alone without the benefit of galleries or magazines to show and promote their work. Today there are websites and self publication to help, but where does an artist go for dialog, to be where people are responding.

Many artists, once they leave school, do not have a community of support. Some of these artists travel around the country to be a part of the floating, photographic, artist community which SlowExposures is becoming a part of. Like most creative things we apply value to, we often forget the dedicated person who strives to produce an artwork and continuously create with little financial rewards or great public acclaim. I always think of artists in a religious sense, or like the wise virgins working for that moment that is never guaranteed -- but you have to be ready.

More than 60 percent of the artists of Southern Memories were discovered at photo reviews held since 2000. Their images were strong enough for me to remember and to keep in contact with the artist. Some of the photographers have entered juried shows including SlowExposure, others I met while at events like this one. But it is the quality and the power of the image that they created that makes for their being included in this exhibition. Southern Memories started as an organic process and shifted enough to make me rethink some of my childhood memories. I always thought that my childhood was bright and idyllic but the 45 photographs in this exhibition have me wondering what was real and what was glamor; questioning why I only saw light and not the shadows and secrets. The artists who come from as far away as Shanghai and England and as close as Georgia, a few towns away, opened my eyes and heart.

Southern Memories : Part One started out as a lark an idea I had about the power of photography to evoke and assist memory. I often am amazed by people who can remember all the details of their life -- date, time, and temperature. I, on the other hand, feel emotion and broad strokes. My first remembered Christmas contains a few details like peppermint candy, oranges and nuts in a shoe box (stocking), and a haze of every gift a boy could want in 1952 being under a tree. I remember my trip downtown -- a downtown that was festooned for the holidays; store windows with moving toys, something new and magical. But over it all I remember being very happy while everything around me was sad, bleak, gray. The light was near perfect; cold, crisp, and winter blue but Birmingham Alabama was not Thornton Wilder's small town. Still I grew up to love Christmas.