The Photography Guild was established in 1987. The Guild supports the Museum by stimulating interest in the photographic arts and by encouraging and facilitating the acquisition of photography for the Museum. Photography Guild members enjoy special lectures, workshops, and presentations on a wide range of photo-related issues. Guild membership dues support acquisitions of photography for the Museum’s permanent collection.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP:
$250 per member
$100 junior member (under 40)
$100 professional artist member
January 10th ROADTRIP TO NASHVILLE
Daytrip to Nashville to see the exhibition Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video at the First Center for the Visual Arts. The focus of the trip will be the retrospective exhibition of more than 200 objects—primarily photography, but including texts, audio, and video works—tracing Weems’s career over the last thirty years.
For more information contact Carrie Montgomery,
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or 205.254.2086.
April 6th ARTIST WORKSHOP: HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH A HIPPO
In conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Hip, Hippo, Hooray! The Hippopotamus Dinner Service, the Museum has invited Sarah Louise Galbraith, the photographer commissioned to document hippos from around the world for the porcelain dinner service, to lead a workshop at the Birmingham Zoo to teach some of the tricks of the trade when photographing animals. At the end of the tour, participants will be given a behind-the-scenes visit with Tadpole, the Zoo’s hippopotamus. Open to all Museum members (not only Photo Guild). Cost is $35. Registration required.
For more information contact Kristen Greenwood in the Education department at
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or 205.254.2856. To register, please CLICK HERE.
May 14th ANNUAL VOTING EVENT
The most vital role support groups play in the life of the Museum is helping to build the Museum’s art collection. The annual voting event allows Photo Guild members the opportunity to participate by voting to choose a photograph that will become a part of the permanent collection. This is also a great opportunity to learn more about the Museum’s collection.
Annual Holiday Party
December 2012
Meet and Greet with Dru Donovan
November 2012
Dru Donovan delivered the 5th annual John Morton Lecture in Photography on November 30. In her photographs, Donovan explores the body and life’s daily rituals and interactions. Some of her photographs depict situations witnessed and photographed in real time, while others are created with false backdrops, models, and props. Donovan says that, “the construction and staging of scenes allow me to locate and investigate the intersection between one reality that exists and another imagined.” Members enjoyed a meet and greet with Donovan before her lecture.
Since 2008, the BMA’s John Morton Lecture in Photography has presented photographers on the cutting edge of art and culture. Sponsored by Birmingham philanthropist and collector John Morton, the lecture is always free and open to the public.
Members Event with Dawoud Bey
November 2012
Dawoud Bey is a graduate of Yale University and professor of art at Columbia College Chicago. He is well known for his large-scale photographic portraits. Since his first one-person exhibition in 1979 at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Bey has continued to receive acclaim from museums worldwide, including a mid-career survey organized by the Walker Art Center and the publication of “Class Pictures” by Aperture in 2007.
Bey was on hand to talk about his project with the Museum that has been conceived as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 16th Street Church bombing. The exhibition opens September 2013.
Collecting Photography: Ideas for the Beginner and the Veteran
April 2012
Members of the Photography Guild were invited to attend a presentation led by Anna Walker Skillman and Courtney Lee of Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta. Skillman, Gallery Owner, and Lee, Gallery Director, discussed aspects of building a photography collection, covering different kinds of photographic prints, and advice on displaying and caring for photographs.
Get Out the Vote 2012!
May 2012
Members of the Photography Guild were invited for the Guild’s fourth annual voting event.
Day Trip to Atlanta
October 2010
Curator Ron Platt led a full day trip to Atlanta devoted to modern & contemporary photography.
Portfolio Viewing
April 2010
Members of the Photography Guild were invited to a portfolio viewing of work by upper level photography students in the BFA program at UAB. This was a great opportunity to get to know our next generation of photographers, and it provided them with the experience of presenting their work to a knowledgeable and supportive audience.
Behind-the-Scenes Tour
March 2010
Members of the Photography Guild were invited to a special Behind-the-Scenes tour of the Museum's Hanson Library hosted by our librarian Tatum Preston. The Museum's library includes over 35,000 items including books, periodicals, auction records, and archival materials. In this tour of the library collection, Tatum introduced members to the available resources related to the photography collection.
