This is somewhere: Atl & Nola
FEATURING WORKS BY
Craig Lou Butts & Iman Sebunya
This summer Atlanta turned its gaze outwards and invited the world in - as it hosted the FIFA Soccer World Cup. And in the inverse of what aKAZI normally does - we focused on the ATL - a city we live in and love as well as that other iconic southern city New Orleans, a city we count among our favorite on the planet.
Who better to do this with than with @craiglou of ‘This is Somewhere’ youTube fame. Craig possesses the rare talent of shining the spotlight on what locals (in whichever locale he finds himself) take for granted and turning that seemingly unremarkable into art. The resulting footage evokes reactions of pride and celebration for the people of the place he highlights.
In ‘ATL is Somewhere’ Craig turns his gaze to right here - to his A Town. In his photography he brings both the iconic and every day Atlanta - to life in a celebration of this City that we and so many other natives and transplants call home.
Iman Sebunya combines her talents in the arts and design with a very successful career in international pedagogy focused on social, emotional, ethical learning, compassion-based training rooted in Tibetan Buddhism. In her photography she zeroes in on displays of culture, history and aspiration that the people of NOLA do like no other - weaving past, present and future into a rich tapestry. For example, photographing the Black Masking on St. Josephs night, in which these amazing artists out their creations in a celebration and a tradition that combines West African masquerading traditions with native American imagery in a historical look back at the journey ancestors took escaping enslavement to native American lands in Louisiana and beyond, Iman provides the viewer an in - to a history that is not widely known.
Together Craig and Iman layered black culture in two southern cities in a celebration of style, creativity and aesthetics. aKAZI’s location at Haugabrooks in the Sweet Auburn District adds a physical layer of history to the photographic samples on the walls - offering international and local visitors a sophisticated, nuanced view of Atlanta that resists stereotypes.
In a nutshell - This is Somewhere showed The Vibe: Capturing the shimmer in the mundane—perhaps the way light hits a brick wall in Sweet Auburn or the specific geometry of a MARTA station and The Impact: forcing residents to stop taking their environment for granted while giving World Cup visitors a visual map of two iconic southern cities’ soul beyond the tourist traps.
