Ann George
Ann George: Photographic Artist – WEBSITE
I have always had an affinity for photography, animals and people. As a child I was happiest snapping my Kodak instamatic, choreographing compositions and watching daddy draw and paint our beloved Louisiana. I grew up with people places and things that grounded my roots deep into the southern soil and my heart into Louisiana’s personality. I sense the South it in its old things that still have purpose, in its soft blanket of pine straw beneath my feet and its suffocating summer nights. I smell it in the strong coffee, in the mud and the paper mills. I see it in the blur of the cotton and the sugar cane fields as I pass by as well as and the small white churches that dot the landscape. I hear the south in the distant train whistles and the song of the cicada signaling the dark and in the accents of the people I love.
I grew up in a small Louisiana town big enough to have a downtown but small enough that no one went there much. We had a theater and a lake for swimming. We went anywhere our bikes would take us. There were always “get togethers”, which meant fish frying, crawfish boiling, or barbequing. Those were glorious nights where the music of the cicada harmonized with the easy slow conversation and distant laughter from the grown ups.
I have always wanted my photographs to demonstrate, those special feelings of my childhood. These southern memories will always be part of who I am and the work I do. In an effort to create images that reflect a sense of nostalgia; I blend modern Photoshop techniques, oils, glazes and waxes to create texture and depth.
The images in this show are from the series titled, The Three Chapters Of Illumination: God Calling. They were created created during a period of uncertainty and loss. The series allows the viewer to take a metaphoric journey from burden through knowledge into liberty. As the wolf to represents the state of fearfulness, the woman represents those who break fear’s burden and make the passage into freedom.
My passion for photography runs deep. My love for sharing it with others runs wide. It is my hope you see both in it.
George has shown her photography internationally. Her Three Chapters of Illumination series is currently being published as a book. She has won numerous awards nationally and internationally. Critics have commented that her photographic approach is mysterious and poetic and continues a pictorial tradition important in the history of photography
Ann is married and lives in Shreveport, Louisiana raising her 4 boys.