“The South is the land I’m bound to” panel remembers Jack Leigh
Photos by Katherine Rountree
The SCAD Museum of Art welcomed acclaimed photographers Lisa Robinson and George Tice on Thursday to speak about the late photographer Jack Leigh. The panel discussion moderated by Brian Wallis marked the 10 year anniversary of Leigh’s passing and focused on his work and, more broadly, southern regional photography. The panel was in conjunction with an exhibition, “Jack Leigh: Full Circle, Low Country Photographs,” currently at the museum displaying work from Tice, Robinson and Leigh.
Wallis spoke of Leigh’s influence on southern regional photography. Comparing Leigh to artists such as Sally Mann, Wallis described the diversity of southern photographs in style but not in content. Southern regional photography is not documentary photography, according to Wallis, but instead a way to record it “in an honest and of course beautiful experience.”
This idea of regional photography is what also drives George Tice’s personal work. Tice recounted his brief history with Leigh as a student in one of Tice’s photography workshops as well as his admiration of his photographs. Though not a southern photographer, Tice’s work is bound to regional photography in the Northeast and his native New Jersey. This connection to the place where you live and create drives Tice and he doesn’t “want to break the chain.”
Lisa Robinson, who graduated from SCAD in 1999 with an M.F.A. in photography, spoke about her personal experience with Leigh. Robinson, a former student of Leigh’s in high school, often looked to him for inspiration or guidance. The abstracted look of Robinson’ s natural photography is greatly inspired by Leigh’s ability to capture the essence of a place. Robinson found that even her current work can still be driven by her experiences working with Leigh and she she feels she is taking these shots with him.
The exhibit, “Jack Leigh: Full Circle, Low Country Photographs,” is located at the SCAD Museum of Art and is available through Oct. 2.
