Thursday, November 1, 2007

Tigers, Stallions, and Two Heads of Deer

Was over at Trevor's house the other night. He's working on a project called "The Man Series".


Photographing men from all walks of life - front and back. He's found "exotic dancers" are especially relaxed about posing nude. Go figure.

There's something about the camera though, or maybe its just Trevor, that makes these men put their guard down. No matter what their body is like, their eyes have a bashful sincerity.



There is also now a buck guarding his dining room.

Deer heads popping up everywhere. Here's another that's found itself in quite the predicament.


Got my hand's on Jody's new book.

Growing up in South Carolina, people always thought I was a bit of a "unique" kid, but I imagine Jody took the cake.

This room is amazing. Sort of looks like cake.

This may be my favorite. The book really needs an accompanying soundtrack of this woman singing karaoke.

Or maybe my favorite thing is that Jody was able to convince his family up in North Georgia to participate in his fantasies of magical realism. All of the pictures of his grandparents, parents, aunts, and whoever else are bizarre in the best way. What's great about this work is that it celebrates these unique environments without becoming voyeuristic. The people in these photographs are happily playing part in the creation of images celebrating a unique culture, or a secret fantasy world. It is a very different approach than the popular trend of photographers documenting the people of small southern towns in an exploitative way, focusing on the kitsch, poverty, and hopelessness. These are photographers who stand at arms length from their subject and understand little of what or whom they are actually photographing. Jody's work, in many ways, is the antidote.

The book is a really nice collection of Jody's fine art work, including the photographs from the "Smoke From Another Fire" show at Whitespace Gallery last spring and many more yet to be shown in Atlanta.
Get yourself a copy from Amazon here.

Update (11/17): Or better yet, buy "Second Place" locally. Whitespace gallery is now selling the book for the same price as Amazon and its a good excuse to visit one of the most peaceful places in Atlanta.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jonathan, thanks for posting this. I love Jody's work and had no idea he had a book out... just ordered a copy!

Anonymous said...

holy crap those pictures are amazing. thanks for sharing this.

felicia feaster said...

I like your take on Jody's book and the way you gradually reveal the book in your post, suggesting a movie or a cartoon panel.