How did we find human connection during a pandemic that kept us apart from each other? Some people made art museums for their hamsters or hosted happy hour trivia on Zoom. The photographer Jim Fiscus lit out on a series of road trips in a camper with a friend, visiting unexpected places and getting to know strangers. The exhibition “Where Shadows Cross,” on view at the museum through October 8, shows the single-frame stories that resulted from those travels.
Born in Dallas, Texas, Fiscus lives in Athens and is well-known for his award-winning advertising and editorial photography. His work is featured in the museum’s permanent collection and in numerous private collections. You may have seen his photograph of the rap duo Outkast hanging at the restaurant The National or his commercial work for HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Disney, or Levi’s. Fiscus’ specialty, both in his commercial and his fine-art work, is storytelling, and the photographs in the exhibition feature elaborately constructed scenes that suggest complex narratives. As he drove around the country, Fiscus found places that spoke to him. He then directed real people within those landscapes to craft a kind of stage set to photograph. He is the photographer, but also the producer and director, orchestrating every element of the final image.
Once a scene is set, he captures multiple scenarios, then digitally assembles those perspectives into a single image, a sort of perfect film still of an imaginary movie. You can come to hear Fiscus talk about his work on September 7 at 5:30 p.m.