By Jonathan Buckley
“It’s just Savannah,” Carson Sanders said of “Home Sweet Home,” a collection of photographs created with Abigail Cassner hanging at Non-Fiction Gallery.
The crowd at the opening reception on May 3 was the usual mix of students, professors, parents and a few of the subjects of Cassner’s Confederate beefcake portraits — and you may even recognize a few of your local Savannah bar doormen posing in the Georgia wetlands.
On the opposite wall hung Sanders’ documentation of the urban landscape of Savannah.
Sanders’ explained that there were no artists’ statements for the work. It was clear that they spoke for themselves with a loud, Southern twang. The photos depict the Savannah that is possibly more honest than what the brochures show. They depict a Savannah defined by the human experience.
Sanders’ and Cassner’s works compliment one another. Similarly, the photographers show a humorous side with large prints of each photographer in the bathroom in unflattering moments. Sanders’ portrait shows his swollen face after an unexpected allergic reaction to a honey mango.
The photographers show Savannah as it is to those who stay long enough to wander away from the squares downtown. “Home Sweet Home” stayed true to its name giving a warm, inviting vibe.
Non-Fiction Gallery on Bull Street is a smaller gallery — and with each opening comes a talkative crowd. But “Home Sweet Home” was a part of this Friday’s Art March, so the event was incredibly lively, making us wonder if the art scene in Savannah is on rise again.
Pieces will be on exhibition until May 7 at Non-Fiction Gallery, located at 1522 Bull St.
