Overview

Atlanta's Red Light District - Cheshire Bridge Road is an alluring look into the lives of a diverse urban community within Atlanta, Georgia. Initially, I began this project as a way to get exercise, then it turned into a passion. For the last twenty years, I lived in a neighborhood along Cheshire Bridge Road know as Atlanta's Red-Light District. For twelve of those years, I submersed myself into the culture by walking up and down this infamous one-mile road photographing people and the environment. On my journey, I discovered that Cheshire Bridge Road provides a community where all people are free to live with the person they are inside regardless of sexuality, gender, and race. A couple years ago, Cheshire Bridge Road began suffering from an explosion of redevelopment. Many decades old small businesses are being demolished and replaced with high rise apartments and storage facilities. Still, seedy strip clubs, sex shops, and gay nightclubs line Cheshire Bridge Road. Drag shows come alive most nights of the week, as they have been for decades. Drag queens have a tight community of support. After hours of preparation, they are rewarded with one-dollar bills during their performance, one dollar at a time. They perform not for the money, but for the love shared with each other. For many, this night job is their 'day job', and only income. Soon, many long-time patrons of Cheshire Bridge Road won't be coming back either. The establishments are disappearing quickly. It's just a matter of time before this unique community is forced to disperse, the diversity along this road no longer exists, and the opportunity to live freely gives way to heartless steel structures.

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9781973973676

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Teri Darnell is an artist who is passionate about people being able to live with who they are inside. She uses her camera to connect to places that few people explore. Through the inspiration she derives from casual encounters, she expresses an inward sensitivity to the lives of others who many people do not want to understand. Her use of vibrant colors and evocative imagery enables viewers to engage peacefully in worlds that might otherwise make them uncomfortable. Teri serves on the Board of Directors of Atlanta Celebrates Photography. She served six years in the U.S. Air Force, notably in Berlin during the cold war. In 2015, she retired after twenty-five years of service with a Fortune 50 company as a Multi-Media Development Manager to pursue her passion in photography. In 2017, Teri's images were selected for the Songzhuang International Photo Biennale, Czech China Contemporary Museum, Beijing, China; the Decatur Arts Alliance, Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia; Puppy Love, Hathaway Contemporary Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia; the Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia; South X Southeast Gallery, Molena, Georgia; and Atlanta Photography Group's solo exhibition, Atlanta, Georgia. In 2016, Teri's photography was selected for the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia (MOCAGA), in Atlanta. In 2016 and 2017, Teri's Cheshire Bridge images were published in South x Southeast and L'Oeil de la Photographie (Paris), and The Georgia Voice photo magazines and newspaper. Teri was interviewed by interviewed by Lois Reitzes of National Public Radio to discuss her Cheshire Bridge Road project during a 'City Lights' segment. Teri was selected as a finalist for the 8th Julia Margaret Cameron Award curated by Laura Noble, Director of L A Noble Gallery in London, and several of her images were exhibited at the 2016 Berlin Foto Biennale.

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