Atlanta photographer’s new exhibit at Emory’s Woodruff Library invites visitors to ‘breathe.’

By Maureen McGavin Sept. 6, 2024

A new exhibition in the Robert W. Woodruff Library on Emory University’s Atlanta campus invites visitors to just “breathe.”

Opening Wednesday, Sept. 11, in the library’s Schatten Gallery, “breathe.” is an exhibition of landscape images by Atlanta-based photographer Sheila Pree Bright, best known for her photographs exploring African American culture and activism. Andi McKenzie, the Michael C. Carlos Museum curator of Works on Paper, is the exhibition curator.

The exhibition is open to the public at no charge. Related events include an Atlanta Art Week conversation with Bright and McKenzie at 6:30 p.m. in the library’s Jones Room on Monday, Sept. 30, followed by an opening ceremony by Emory’s Office of Spiritual and Religious Life (OSRL) in the Schatten Gallery.Guests are asked to register at bit.ly/breathe-conversation.

Guided meditations in the exhibition led by OSRL and art-making sessions with Carlos Museum programming staff are planned throughout the exhibition’s run; specific details of these events are forthcoming.

‘breathe.’ details

The tightly focused images are taken from selections in two of Bright’s series, “Belonging” and “Behold the Land.” The landscapes originated as photographs of places of trauma during the civil rights movement and the slavery eras. This exhibition takes a portion of each image, zooming in to change the focus from trauma to feelings of meditative calm. Seating will be placed in front of the photographs to encourage reflection.

Andi McKenzie, curator of Works on Paper at the Carlos Museum, curated the “breathe.” exhibition. Photo by CatMax Photography.

Bright took the original landscapes during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the isolation drove her closer to nature, she says. She also spent a few years photographing the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in cities such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Ferguson, Michigan, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C. Her work has been featured in many exhibitions and the Global Oneness Project photo essay “We Will Breathe.”

Bright says her increasing concerns about climate change, the isolation of the pandemic and the emotional toll of photographing the Black Lives Matter demonstrations and places of Black trauma created personal stress she wasn’t aware of at the time.

“I didn't realize how much I needed a break from being on the ground, so I turned my lens toward the land. After all, that's what everyone is fighting about. I wanted to tell the story differently, through the landscapes,” Bright says.

When the idea developed to turn the exhibition into a meditative space, Bright was excited about the prospect.

“I was thinking about all the noise that we're going through in the world, nationally and globally,” she says. “I thought it would be interesting to create a sanctuary for people to come and meditate.”

Polaroid photos of nature, taken by Bright, have been reimagined in an altered state using AI and a bluish cast. These transformed landscapes, originally born of trauma, are now depicted as places of restoration and peace, imagining a place for the future.

A video of waves in motion will run in the exhibition to add to the calming effect.

”breathe.” marks the first time Emory Libraries is creating an experiential space, as well as the first time working with the Carlos Museum to curate a Schatten Gallery exhibition. Library staff hope Bright’s exhibition of landscape photographs will provide a space for students, faculty and staff to de-stress during the fall semester.

“There are many firsts about this exhibition, one of the most important being the activation of art, introspection and wellness in a traditional academic space,” says Valeda F. Dent, vice provost of Emory Libraries and the Michael C. Carlos Museum. “Ms. Bright’s work reminds us how the land can hold past trauma but also how it can cradle and spread peace and stillness. We are honored that Ms. Bright chose Emory Libraries and Museum as an exhibition space.”

Both Bright and McKenzie say the “breathe.” exhibition space can provide a welcome respite from stressors in visitors’ lives.

“I hope that viewers will come away feeling grounded and calm,” McKenzie says. “For me, when I look at Sheila’s work, there's also a level of hope and anticipation, but everybody's going to experience it differently. I hope that, however a viewer experiences the space, it will be a fulfilling journey for them.”

Bright received her master’s in fine arts degree from Georgia State University and was the focus of a solo exhibition in 2023, "The Rebirth of Us," at Atlanta's Jackson Fine Art Gallery. Her work has been included in multiple exhibitions across the country and locally at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens and the High Museum of Art.

“breathe.” will run through Dec. 21, 2024, in the Schatten Gallery on Level 3 of the Robert W. Woodruff Library. Updates will be posted on the Libraries exhibitions webpage.

Free opening events

Atlanta Art Week conversation with Sheila Pree Bright and curator Andi McKenzie

Monday, Sept. 30, at 6:30 p.m.

Robert W. Woodruff Library’s Jones Room

Opening ceremony to follow in the Schatten Gallery.

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