Projects
Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point is an ongoing fine art photography project consisting of images from neighborhoods east of downtown Atlanta. The pieces in this collection offer allegorical representations of the rapidly changing urban landscape near my home. The area has experienced drastic changes in my 20 years living there. And with more luxury apartments, continued home renovations, trendy food halls, a paved Beltline, and new MARTA stations in the works, I soon won’t recognize it as the place I moved to a couple of decades ago. It will essentially disappear, replaced by progress.
Steeped in symbolism, the photographs are taken during heavy fog in early morning light to isolate the subjects and evoke a fading memory. Printing the images on metal reflects the steel-and-concrete environments while the LED lights mimic the softening effect of the fog. Using a panoramic format for the buildings provides them a dramatic, cinematic feel that counters the mundane, unremarkable view passersby generally see. The triptychs of the Boulevard / Decatur overpass and Hulsey Yard have a similar cinematic feel visually, while the multiple images create more context and give a sense of scale.
Overall, the collection invites the viewer to reflect on the changes in their neighborhoods and recognize the hidden beauty they should appreciate everyday before it fades away.
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BTNTRX
The first railroad to reach Atlanta, GA connected it to Augusta in 1845. By 1854, with the completion of a fourth rail line, Atlanta was the rail hub of the South. Rapid growth after the Civil War gave way to steady decline starting in 1920 as passengers increasingly drove cars and freight business was won by trucks. However, as the city has grown into a major US metropolitan area, the rail lines have persisted. And throughout this history, they have been more than just transportation channels. They decided the Civil War, segregated races, and spawned an art movement.
In late 2020 and early 2021, during the depths of the global Covid-19 pandemic, I found solace photographing the streets near my home. BTNTRX.V1 is the result of those shoots. Capturing images along a 2 mile stretch of Atlanta's first rail line, Stanback's foray into street photography is a reflection of his home town, a beautiful quilt of diverse perspectives and color with a history that should not be ignored.