COLUMBUS, GA.- The Columbus Museum is pleased to announce the opening of the second edition in the Now and Then exhibition series, Snapshots of the South, which juxtaposes historic and contemporary images addressing a variety of enduring aspects of everyday life in the South. Including images that speak to Southerners’ longstanding connections with the land and its history, religion and the celebration of the eccentric, the exhibition evokes a unique sense of place as projected through the lens of cameras both past and present.
A diverse selection of historic images will originate from the collections of the Eufaula Athenaeum, an impressive private archive of materials assembled by Eufaula native A.S. Williams. One of the largest and most important such collections in the South, the Athenaeum’s holdings include thousands of items documenting a broad spectrum of people, places and events in Southern history.
Contemporary images will be provided by professional photographer Jerry Siegel. An Alabama native, Siegel is currently one of the South’s leading photographers. He has also produced several series of fine art photography that reflect his interest in the rural South’s culture and landscape. While many of the images in this exhibition are especially influenced by his upbringing in central Alabama’s Black Belt region, Siegel shot images for this project during his travels throughout the South.