The Peachtree City Library Art Initiative announces the exhibit of a selection of photos by Michael Geissinger, freelance photojournalist, from a collection donated to the Library of Congress.
The exhibit opens Sept. 4 and continues through Oct. 27. The opening reception will be an “after hours” event Friday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. Geissinger and his wife expect to be in attendance.
Geissinger’s interest in photography began in high school and continued at Rochester Institute of Technology where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
He served as a White House staff photographer on temporary assignment while in the U.S. Air Force. Following his discharge in 1967 he returned to the White House to continue documenting the Johnson Administration for history, working for famed White House photographer Yoichi Okamoto.
In 1969, after the inauguration of Richard Nixon, he spent two and half years as director of photography at Virginia Tech. He then returned to Rochester Institute to teach photojournalism for 15 years. Five of his students became Pulitzer Prize winners. In 1985, he participated in a faculty exchange program with Shanghai Institute of Technology and spent 10 weeks teaching and traveling in China while documenting his experiences with photographs.
The following year he and his wife Barbara moved to Washington, D.C. where he would work as a freelance photojournalist for the next 25 years. His work centered on people – most often photographing power brokers for The New York Times, his primary client. The portraits capture expressive moments of subjects during individual sessions or during interviews with reporters. These photographs have been selected from a group of 50 portraits that are being donated to the Library of Congress.
Among the dozen historical photographs Mr. Geissinger has selected for the library’s exhibit called “One on One” are Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), Professor Madeleine Albright (before she became Madame Secretary), and Ken “Dr. Fad” Hakuta, inventor of the Wacky Wall Walker popular in the 1980s.
The Peachtree City Library Art Initiative seeks to extend the visibility of quality art using regional resources. While the local art associations, the Fayette County Society of Fine Art and the Newnan-Coweta Art Association, have done an exceptional job of supplying monthly exhibitions for many years, the new initiative seeks to enhance that relationship as well as build new ones. Featured artists, who will have a two-month exhibit time, are subjected to a juried process. The committee is currently finalizing next year’s art year calendar.
The November/December 2016 exhibit features the award winning work of Mike Sawecki, fine artist and art teacher.
For additional information contact Rebecca Watts, adult services librarian, at 770-631-2520.
