Dixie #4: River St. • Savannah, GA

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My friend Craig Tanner's crib is Savannah, Ga. And he guides the fresh eyes of gifted photographers in his workshops around the old South's grand city. Eventually they come to River Street. Unfortunately my eyes are no longer fresh, dimmed by many visits over the last thirty years or so. But like Craig, I'm compelled to take them down to River Street at least once a year to grab images, ideas, and feelings from the characters and color of this crusty seaport.

So? Wuddaya think?


Let me go farther into this image in more detail as a result of some questions from viewers...

I try to conceptualize what I'm after... what I want an image to say. The triptych form is almost cheating... it lets me expand the canvas and to create more sophisticated texture. You know, cram a greater range of nuance into the thing through collage.

So the question I wrestled with yesterday was about "Fresh Eyes" on River Street. And then there is the whole double meaning thing of "Fresh". Plus I was anxious to gently have fun with the wonderful character studies generally seen in Savannah portraits. Lastly I wanted to subtly create a sense of place. But different from a lot of my past takes on River Street...

Particularly studies of the street itself as a character. Click here to see an example

Or if you like, click here to see a number of my prveious years' River Street and Savannah images (including street portraits).


If you've been to River Street in Savannah you know that it is a epicenter for tourists, prol-food restaurants, bars, ancient buildings which once created the enormous wealth of this city that have been repurposed for instantaneous commercial fun, and yeah... a number of shops where ticky is losing a wrestling match with tacky.

So... how to wrap all of that into one image for viewers who lack so much of that context? Huh? Huh? Huh? How to create an image that is fun all by itself, but can pull people who want to take the trip through it to explore the underlying thoughts and feelings?

Hmmm... since this was about "Fresh" eyes... Howzabout I take a gaggle of faceless tourists and mix em up with the saucy eyes of some ticky-shop denizens? What is the feeling of this River Street place? Can you pile together its parts to create something greater? Like a lot of my stuff, its conceived to give you a moment's reward, or more if you wanna hang around for the show.

Long way around... but that's what I was after... when I dropped that gang of menu-viewers between the two other characters of River Street. It's all in the 'fresh' eyes from either side that tie the entire thing into a narrative... Um... I hope..

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And here my friends are the virgin images fresh from today's FlashCard.