big picture unveiled
tommy permalink | categories: arts, citizens, city, downtown, history, tampa, things to do, visitors, worth itby tommy @ 9:11 am
Each year since 2003, the City of Tampa has chosen a photographer to chronicle the city for The Big Picture Photographer Laureate Program.
The purpose of the project was to commission an artist to photograph and respond to life in the City of Tampa. The Photographer Laureate Program is inspired by historic photographic projects including the Farm Workers Administration, the National Endowment for the Arts, and regional Photographic Archives. The program’s long-range vision is to build a public collection comprised of images that are representative of the life and times in Tampa, by regional, national and international photographers.
Over the course of the multi-year project, an artist will be commissioned to “add a volume” for one year. The volume must be built upon a theme/topic selected by the artist/photographer and approved by the committee. Over the course of time, the city hopes to accumulate and display a full and varied representation of the multiple and
diverse perspectives of artists on Tampa.
The artist chosen for 2007 was Marion Belanger (www.marionbelanger.com) from Connecticut, and the Big Picture Photographer Laureate, Volume V is now finished, and Marion’s work is open to the public.
Check out Real Estate/Spaces in Transition on view at the American Institute of Architects Gallery in downtown Tampa at 200 N. Tampa Street, Suite 100. Find it on the west side of Tampa St. just south of Jackson.
You may want to check out the online work of previous Tampa Photographer Laureates, including 2003 Photographer Laureate Beth Reynolds, 2004’s Suzanne Camp Crosby, pinhole photographer Rebecca Sexton Larson in 2005, and 2006’s Steven S. Gregory.
The 2008 photographer, Jeremy Chandler, is busy taking photos now. Look for his exhibit in about a year.
Tags: art, artists, arts, city, display, downtown, government, history, local, photo, photography, tampa, visitors
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August 25th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate to select a native Floridian to be the photographer laureate?
August 26th, 2008 at 9:07 am
This program is a great idea. I wrote the PR person from the Orlando History Center and Tery Olson, Orlando Arts Guru, and asked them if this exists in Orlando and if not, who I need to contact to suggest it. Thank you for posting this.
And to Junebee’s comment above, I politely disagree. The best photographer for the job should get the job, not the one who is the best photographer from a specific location. You limit the chances to get the very best work for your project when you do that. My two cents.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Typically, I would have made a bigger deal about Tampa selecting an artist from elsewhere.
However, after four years of using home-grown talent, I think the new perspective will only serve to improve the program overall.
Next year’s photog goes to USF.