Catherine Duncan, Untitled, from the series "In the Pines” 2015University of Alabama at Birmingham photography students have taken their work on the road and will open an exhibition, “Accidental Grace: Photographs Made in and About the South” on Friday, June 26, at the Shelby County Arts Council Gallery in Columbiana. A reception is planned from 6-8 p.m.
UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art and Art History students enrolled in the 2015 spring “Special Topics: Photography in the South” course spent a semester researching and creating projects that consider the taking, making, printing, presenting and critiquing of photographic images, particularly those made in and about the South.
Taught by DAAH Visual Media and Outreach Coordinator Jared Ragland, the class read foundational texts on regional identity and Southern history and was assigned several long-term photographic projects. Students were challenged to develop and articulate their personal voice and photographic vision through the making of photographs within the contexts of personal identities, historical antecedents, contemporary practices and strategies of critical interpretation, Ragland says.
Britney Truitt, Untitled, from the series “Highway 31” 2015The Shelby County Arts Council has promoted visual and performing arts throughout Shelby County since 2005 and has served more than 8,000 children, youth and adults in a variety of arts education programs and shared student, local and visiting gallery exhibitions. The Arts Council has a growing outreach program that takes arts education to Shelby County schools as well as to home-schooled students, senior centers and juvenile detention facilities.
The student exhibition opening will coincide with Columbiana’s annual Liberty Day festivities. Admission is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on show for a few weeks.
Participating students are Catherine Duncan of Birmingham; Timothy Harstvedt of Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Devin Lunsford, Stacie Reese and Christianna Traynor of Birmingham; Britney Truitt of Corner; and Katie Walden of Eufaula.
To see examples of the students’ work and research, visit the class blog at photographyinthesouth.tumblr.com. For more information, contact Ragland at raglandj@uab.edu or visit the Shelby County Arts Council online.