Ethereal Plumage Exhibition

James Henderson, the Director of Media Services and Instructor at SVAD, has a solo exhibition of photographs on view at the Koger Center for the Arts, title Ethereal Plumage. The show runs through May 2019. Congratulations, Jimmy!

"In the Broadway musical Mary Poppins, Mary asks the question: ‘When will you learn to look past what you see?’ Similarly, a bird feather is often taken for granted or dismissed out of hand. We humans find them on the ground or floating casually on some unseen breeze. But how often do we actually look at them? It is the photographer's mission to look at everyday things in a new way, and I have striven to do that with this series. Beginning with a Brown Pelican feather I found on the beach, moving to the feathers left behind by visitors to my backyard feeder, then progressing to the exotic birds from a pet store and museum specimens, I have chosen to see feathers not just as colored garments for flying creatures. Using a macro lens or extension tubes to photograph them very closely, I have examined each feather in ways impossible with the unaided eye and found them beautiful and interesting - a different kind of beauty than seeing them in one's hand or worn by a bird in flight. I have sought to not only see in a new way, but to bring that vision to an audience that otherwise wouldn't be able to experience it. See a feather at such magnification allows a unique perspective, and I have brought my own sense of elegance to the task. Sometimes appearing stark as a tree in winter and sometimes with color as strong as a dream, each feather is an individual, but they all share similarities. They are both enduring and fragile, plentiful yet endangered." — James Henderson

Accompanying the exhibition is a lecture by Rudy Mancke, UofSC alumnus and former curator of Natural History at the South Carolina State Museum. Mancke founded South Carolina Association of Naturalists and starred on the television series NatureScenes from 1978-2002. The lecture is open to the public and will take place on Thursday April 18, 2019 at 5:30 p.m in the Upstairs Gallery located on the Grand Tier Level of the Koger Center for the Arts.

Image: Koger Center for the Arts.

Artist Bio:

South Carolina native James Henderson began "photographing with intent" while attending the University of South Carolina. Working as a photographer and filmaker, he enjoys both documentary and fine art and doesn't see a reason to reside wholly in a single domain. He has made a photographic journey along the entire length of US 1 (from the Canadian border in Maine to Key West, Florida), and has documented the final two space shuttle missions, which he describes as "profound." He has also directed the documentary film, "Troxler's Truckers: Memories of Vietnam," which has aired over The Military Network, SCETV, The University of Georgia Television Network, and the South Carolina Channel. He is the Director of Media Services and Instructor at the School of Visual Art and Design. Learn more about James on his website.