SlowExposures 2024

“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
― Roald Dahl

If you are ever looking for magic, I know where you can find it each September. You can find magic at SlowExposures, a celebration of photography of the rural South held in Pike County, Georgia.

Randy and I returned from SlowExposures Sunday evening. We arrived home utterly exhausted, happy, and thrilled with the memories we made over the weekend.

If you are unfamiliar with SlowExposures, this wonderful film, created by my talented friend Houck Medford, will give you a real feel for the event.

Since shortly after my surgery in late July, I have been preparing for a PopUp exhibition of work from my Legacy series to share at SlowExposures.  You can learn more about Legacy by reading my Legacy blogpost and my Legacy Continued Post.

Preparations included preparing 35 photographs for the exhibit, creating a catalog for the show, and gathering and packing original artwork created by my mother, Nance Presson, as well as her objects used in the photographs.

Randy and I set up the exhibit on Thursday.

The magic was discovered as photographers, photography enthusiasts, curators, and those who work tirelessly throughout the year to make SlowExposures such a wonderful experience gathered together in such a special place as Pike County, GA.

The three-day weekend provides opportunities to view all of the photography selected by jurors for this event in a main exhibition, an exhibition of the work from last year’s first-place winner, and PopUp exhibitions located in different locations throughout the county.  Brian Taylor and Anna Walker Skillman curated an incredible main exhibition. Next to the main exhibition was the Conlan Prize Show, showcasing the powerful work of last year’s winner, Mark Cáceres.  Anne Berry curated an imaginative group pop-up exhibition, The Barn Show at Split Oak Farm.  Jerry Atnip was the juror for the PopUp Tour.  The PopUp Tour consisted of the following shows:  Fay and Gay by Samantha Yancey, Human Error:  Photographs of a Changing Southern Landscape by photographers Erik Mace, Rob McDonald, and Anna Gage Norton,  Behind the Chute by Leigh Ann Edmonds, Breath Studies by Anna Robertson, Monument – A Mystery Greater Than Our Failures by Angie Terrell, and my series, Legacy.  I was thankful that I could visit all of these unique and thought-provoking exhibitions.

Here are some photographs from my exhibit, located in the Courthouse on the Square in Zebulon, GA.

What I enjoyed the most about having a PopUp exhibition was the opportunity to talk to so many kind, caring, and talented people. I appreciated their time visiting with me, allowing me to share my mother and her legacy, and hearing about their ideas and experiences with legacy.

I am thrilled that my great friend, Mike Baker, was awarded first place in this year’s main exhibition.  He will now have a year to prepare for his solo exhibition.  Congratulations, Mike!

I am so incredibly grateful for the experience of having a PopUp exhibition at SlowExposures this year.  It was such an honor that Jerry Atnip selected my series alongside such talented artists and photographers to be included.  I hope you will use the links I have provided to spend time with each and every one of them.

I want to give a huge thanks to my lifelong friend, Dena Roten, for coming to spend time with us and experience SlowExposures.

And to my muse, Randy Lindsay, for helping every step of the way, for months of planning, for helping transport, and for the hours of setup that made it all possible. Your support means more to me than I can express.

Many thanks to all who make SlowExposures a magical, inspiring event for all who attend. I hope to see many of you there next September.

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Personal Project work is what led me to this series, Legacy.

There is still time to join us for a month to learn about and develop personal photography projects in October.

You can find more information, read testimonials from former students, and register for this class here.