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September Issue 2006
Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC, Offers Historic Photographs of Charleston by George W. Johnson
The photography of George
W. Johnson will be on view from Sept. 8, 2006, through Apr. 15,
2007, in the Works on Paper Gallery at the Gibbes Museum of Art
in Charleston, SC. The exhibit presents a unique opportunity to
view photographs of Lowcountry landmarks now vanished or altered
in the exhibition A Souvenir of Charleston: The Photography
of George W. Johnson. Featuring such striking images
as the Morris Island Lighthouse with the original lightkeeper's
house and the South Carolina and West Indian Exposition of 1901-1902,
this exhibition showcases images of Charleston's architecture
1890-1930.
The photographs of George W. Johnson represent one of the most comprehensive and historically significant visual records of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Charleston in existence. Photographing both rural and city scenes, Johnson captured images of Charleston's architecture and environs that provide an intimate portrait of the city's landscape.
Moving about Charleston with his homemade camera Johnson actively documented the city's landmark architecture, people and events over a period of nearly fifty years. His work depicts Charleston as it transitioned from a city recovering from its failed agrarian based economy to a city emerging as a nationally renowned tourist destination. His photographs were frequently used in visitor's guides and brochures of the time period and he often sold his images to tourists shopping in his family's umbrella store.
The Johnson collection at the Gibbes is comprised of over 1200 glass-plate negatives that were donated to the Gibbes in the 1960s. In 2006 a portion of the collection was conserved and digitized with grant funds provided by the Museum Loan Network. An invaluable resource to historians and preservationists, Johnson's photographs remain an irreplaceable souvenir of Charleston's history.
For further information
check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at
843/722-2706 or at (www.gibbesmuesum.org).
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