Past Exhibitions
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Our Strange New Land: Photographs by Alex Harris
November 27, 2019–May 3, 2020
The American South has become a nexus of film production in the United States. By 2016, more major features were being shot in Georgia than in California. Alex Harris (American, born 1949) began photographing this wave of filmmaking, focusing his attention on independent productions that were under way from Louisiana to Virginia. Our collective idea of the South has largely been shaped by great storytellers—whether novelists, musicians, or photographers—who endeavored to articulate the layered character of this strange land.
In addition to over 65 prints, the exhibition includes a three-channel video piece composed from numerous stills Harris created on set, which evokes the emotional range and complex narrative techniques employed by the filmmakers he worked with. He intentionally sequenced the resulting images, pairing them with a newly commissioned score, to draw out the recurring themes prevalent in recent popular cinema.
Our Strange New Land: Photographs by Alex Harris is the latest chapter in the ongoing Picturing the South project, for which the High Museum commissions artists to create original bodies of work that offer new perspectives on the South’s social and geographical landscapes.
Selected Images
Click on an image below to learn more.
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Abducted, Waxhaw, North Carolina, 2018Abducted, Waxhaw, North Carolina, 2018High Museum of Art, Atlanta, commissioned with funds from the H.B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund, 2015.471
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Liberty, Miami, Florida, 2018Liberty, Miami, Florida, 2018High Museum of Art, Atlanta, commissioned with funds from the H.B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund, 2015.469
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And the People Could Fly, Columbia, South Carolina, 2018And the People Could Fly, Columbia, South Carolina, 2018High Museum of Art, Atlanta, commissioned with funds from the H.B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund, 2015.473
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Thunder Road, Austin, Texas, 2017Thunder Road, Austin, Texas, 2017High Museum of Art, Atlanta, commissioned with funds from the H.B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund, 2015.474
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Liberty, Miami, Florida, 2018Liberty, Miami, Florida, 2018High Museum of Art, Atlanta, commissioned with funds from the H.B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund, 2015.476
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Doodle, Buhl, Alabama, 2018Doodle, Buhl, Alabama, 2018 -
The Funeral Band, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2018The Funeral Band, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2018High Museum of Art, Atlanta, commissioned with funds from the H.B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund, 2015.477
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The Astronomers, Rock Hill, South Carolina, 2018The Astronomers, Rock Hill, South Carolina, 2018 -
Handsome, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 2018Handsome, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 2018 -
Miner’s Mountain, Wilmington, North Carolina, 2017Miner’s Mountain, Wilmington, North Carolina, 2017 -
Greener Grass, Gay, Georgia, 2018Greener Grass, Gay, Georgia, 2018 -
Liberty, Miami, Florida, 2018Liberty, Miami, Florida, 2018
“We are all actors in our own lives, creating our sets, practicing our lines, refining our characters, performing ourselves.” –Alex Harris
For over forty years, Alex Harris has chronicled the lives of people throughout the world, photographing in locations as disparate as the Inuit villages of Alaska, the streets of Havana, the fish markets of Mumbai, and the farms of North Carolina. His interest in film production began in 2007 when he was invited to photograph on the set of Steven Soderbergh’s biopic Che, which was shot on location in Mexico.
In addition to his work as a photographer, Harris is a highly regarded educator and has taught since 1980 at Duke University, where he co-founded the Center for Documentary Studies in 1989. He is also an active editor and curator who has published sixteen books and curated numerous exhibitions. In 1995 he co-founded the magazine DoubleTake, which he edited until 1998.
Press
Artnet News | “Photographer Alex Harris Boldly Challenges Stereotypes About the American South in a New Show at the High Museum—See Images Here”
The New Yorker | “Finding Truth and Fiction on Film Sets in the South”
Oxford American | “Behind the Lens”
Atlanta Journal Constitution | “The South as it’s seen in film the focus of Alex Harris’s photographs”
Artdaily.com | “High Museum debuts Alex Harris photography featuring southern film sets”
Atlanta Journal Constitution | “Seeing the South as the moviemakers see it”
Oxford American | “Eyes on the South: On Set”
Buzzfeed | “7 Photo Stories That Will Challenge Your View of the World”
Juxtapoz | “Our Strange New Land: Photographs by Alex Harris”
Arts ATL | “Review: At High, Alex Harris’ photographs take a crack at catching ever-evolving South”
GPB, “On Second Thought” | “‘Picturing the South’: Photographer Alex Harris Documents Southern Film Industry for High Museum”
WSB-TV | “New exhibit explores booming film industry of the South”
Aesthetica | “Into Cinema: Alex Harris”
Related
BLOG: And the People Could Fly: January Collection Highlight at the High,
BLOG: And the People Could Fly: January Collection Highlight at the High
This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.
This exhibition is made possible by
Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor
Exhibition Series Sponsors
Premier Exhibition Series Supporters
The Antinori Foundation
Sarah and Jim Kennedy
Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot
Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporter
Anne Cox Chambers Foundation
Ambassador Exhibition Supporters
Tom and Susan Wardell
Rod Westmoreland
Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters
Lucinda W. Bunnen
Marcia and John Donnell
W. Daniel Ebersole and Sarah Eby-Ebersole
Peggy Foreman
Robin and Hilton Howell
Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones
Joel Knox and Joan Marmo
Margot and Danny McCaul
The Ron and Lisa Brill Family Charitable Trust
Generous support is also provided by
Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, Isobel Anne Fraser–Nancy Fraser Parker Exhibition Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, and the RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund.