In His Element
Digging through my Dad’s portfolio with him and curating over the past four months has been a joy, and a humbling challenge. We looked at hundreds of photos, many that I’ve seen all my life, and many I’m seeing for the first time.
For over 30 years, my Dad worked as a photojournalist in South Carolina. He covered house fires and hurricanes, concerts and Friday night football games. He took photos of visiting politicians and everyday people from all parts of the community. It feels like he was everywhere, all the time, and knew everyone in town.
During his decades at the Spartanburg Herald Journal, his photos ran in dozens of publications and won national awards, but most importantly, they were printed nearly every night and delivered to newsstands and doorsteps all over town in time for breakfast.
Now, for the first time, a selection of his work is on display for the public in a gallery setting. We’re sharing 60 photos at the Artists Collective Spartanburg all month long in Gallery III; on February 19th we’re holding a reception with him from 5-8pm, where you can hear Dad tell some stories and answer questions about his work.
My Dad is truly ‘in his element’ working with people, shooting news assignments, editing, and printing photos, but he’s also ‘in his element’ talking about the experiences he had and what it took to capture these images.
Usually, a newspaper picture is seen alongside a written article, and only seen once or twice while the story is still current. Here, we’re resurfacing these images years away from the stories, with no written article nearby. It is an entirely different experience than flipping (or scrolling) through the newspaper.
It’s my hope that this invites the viewer to see the artistic vision in the images themselves.
Every picture “tells a story.” With some, you might immediately recognize local faces or events. For others, it’s interesting to pay attention to the way our minds fill in the blanks, recall personal experiences, or invent a narrative altogether.
If you’re in the Upstate, I hope you’ll stop by and check out the show.
A few shoutouts are warranted as well…
This absolutely would not have come together without support from my Mom, the kindness of Beth, Karina, and the ACS team, ruthless decisiveness from Madison ā„, scanning and printing from SpartanPhotoCenter, and some clutch assistance from Carroll Foster. We love you all and I am grateful to be part of this unique creative community in Spartanburg š
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