What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1450212
8 WHAT'S UP! FEBRUARY 13-19, 2022 FEATURE Passion And Process Photographer envisions link between past, future BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette C huck Davis is, in essence, a photojournalist. Having grown up in the time of the March on Washington and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he started school at the University of Texas only to transfer to the University of Missouri at Columbia because of its esteemed School of Journalism. He worked on the student newspaper, joined the National Press Photographers Association, returned to Texas, and became chief photographer at a branch of the Fort Worth Star Telegram. But it still wasn't enough. A decade later, he enrolled at the University of New Mexico to study the history of photography with Beaumont Newhall. "As I arrived, Beaumont had only recently left roles at the Museum of Modern Art and the George Eastman House to join the art department set up by Van Deren Coke," Davis remembers. "UNM is a mecca to art photographers just like Mizzou is a magnet for emerging photojournalists. "In each of these early transitions as a photographer, I was buoyed by big stories and important social issues," he explains. "Yet beyond reporting, the capturing and making of an image also appealed to me — and especially its uncertainty of outcome. "Creatively speaking, lightning still strikes when transforming an image into a finished object with interpretation that informs a big story," the Rogers resident says. "Robert Frank, a famous Swiss photographer said, 'When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.'" Davis' current project in progress looks not at news of the day, however, but at how the past continues to shape the future. Called "The Wheel," it honors and observes lands once described as Indian Territory and is being shown Feb. 26-June 5 at the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum. The exhibition is Davis' prize for winning the museum's 2020 juried invitational show, "Exploring Mindscapes: An Artist's Reflection." "Cultural narratives inform this project, situated in places of forced relocation — and especially areas near the terminus of the Trail of Tears," he says of his work. "As a platform for respect and acknowledgment, 'The Wheel' tells its story in portraits, places and in moments where relocation is relayed by a combination of oral tradition, historical record, and immersion. "As a principle for this body of work, I believe that the land we share is a great gift of the creator. Land can be surveyed and owned, but its gift cannot be bought. "For those who share this point of view, it becomes important to restore our relationship with the soil — to meditate on the meaning of land stewardship and acknowledgment. Bestowing respect upon all people, the project engages participants of Indigenous and Native lineage, and seeks conversation about living in harmony with the cultural and physical landscape around us." Davis answered these four questions for What's Up! They have been edited for length and clarity. Q. At what point and why did you develop an interest in Native American culture and the Trail of Tears? A. For much of my adult life I've lived upon lands acknowledged as home to native people, especially Navaho, Zuni, Hopi, Apache, Fox, Caddo and Ho-Chunk. Since relocating to the area we now call "'The Wheel,' the project created for the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, [draws its name] from the lottery wheel in which native lands were auctioned off during the period of removal from southeastern states," Chuck Davis says. "Similarly, a wheel is a metaphor for historical cycles and the generational stories where privilege and power collide with indigenous groups. It is with deep respect in which I attempt to convey a message of reconciliation." (Courtesy Image/Chuck Davis) Davis FAQ Chuck Davis: 'The Wheel' WHEN — Feb. 26-June 5; hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday & 1-5 p.m. Sunday WHERE — Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, 1601 Rogers Ave. COST — Free INFO — 784-2787; fsram.org; chuckdavisphoto.come