Kennesaw State’s affiliate, the Center for Sustainable Journalism, hosted the Bokeh Focus photography exhibit and fundraiser at Atlanta Art Solutions Friday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Nov. 16.
KSU senior journalism and emerging media major Ashley Ausburn was the photo editor and curator for the event themed “Atlanta: Then and Now.”
Several up-and-coming photographers took inspiration from many popular photos taken of the Atlanta in the 1960s by respected photographer Rusty Miller, mirroring his photos with their own modern pictures of the city.
Photographers whose work was featured included KSU students Ausburn and Melody McLaurin, as well as University of Georgia graduate Kaley Lefevre. These artists recreated Miller’s photos of Atlanta shops, housing, business buildings, people and more.
The exhibit exceeded its fundraising goal and had over a hundred viewers from all over the Atlanta area. Journalists, government workers, live-streamers and more were in attendance.
“Seeing how things have changed from the past really makes us who we are,” McLaurin said. “I want people to see themselves in these photos — for any bystander to be able to relate.”
The photographers said that their goal was to showcase Atlanta’s evolution from past to present and to document the city’s community in a similar way to Miller.
“This is the first gallery of this style that I’ve ever been a part of,” Lefevre said. “It’s very exciting.”
These artists wanted viewers to be excited to learn about the history of Atlanta, to consider their interactions with their community and to relate to the people in the photos as well.
The event also served to raise funds for the CSJ and to celebrate its involvement with NewsMatch, a national donation matching campaign that encourages grassroots support of nonprofit newsrooms, grant writing and fundraising apprentice Natalie Fuqua said.
“The Bokeh Focus photo exhibit raises awareness of what we do in the CSJ, a non-profit newsroom at KSU with multiple publications,” Fuqua said.
She regarded the exhibit as a photographic and thematic juxtaposition, stating that events such as these can showcase experiential learning in Georgia universities.
Although the exhibit was a fundraising success, a considerable amount of effort from the CSJ and the photographers was required to make it happen.
In addition to the poster design, information compiling and promotion process all coming on a non-profit organization’s budget, all three photographers said that it was difficult to recreate the feeling of Miller’s original photographs.
Locating the sites of the classic images was challenging and they often looked different thanthey did during the 1960s. Some neighborhoods were not hospitable to photographers snapping photos and scheduling difficulties presented a constant problem. Despite all of this, the artists were happy with the final product.
“Seeing it all come together after months of work is a really cool feeling,” Ausburn said.
All three photographers are moving towards a career in photography and photojournalism. Ausburn is working towards owning a photography business, and Lefevre is taking steps to a career in photojournalism.
McLaurin is already making waves in the Atlanta area, recently receiving the “Georgia Star” award which gave her the opportunity to meet artists such as Ludacris, Jane Fonda and Ne-Yo in person.
For more on Bokeh Focus projects, visit @bokeh_focus on Instagram.
To see more work from the photographers, visit the Instagram profiles @Jussimplymel for McLaurin, @_photojourno_kaley for Lefevre and @FireAsh55 for Ausburn.
