RALEIGH – A new look at North Carolina arrived at the Appalachian Regional Library in North Wilkesboro this week. The Telling Our Stories Photography Exhibit includes 50 images from the state’s mountains to the coast that show different events and time periods. Organized by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources around the 2008 “Telling Our Stories” theme, the exhibition incorporates some of the state’s best professional and amateur photographers, and for the first time photographs from the State Archives are on tour. It will be there until Dec. 18, then travels to Caldwell and Catawba counties.
The tour will visit public libraries across the state through December 2009, traveling an eastern and a western route. Each route includes 11 images from the top winners of the 2008 Our State magazine Readers Choice Photography contest, 21 images from professional photographers, and 18 pictures from the State Archives. Among images are a young Andy Griffith in The Lost Colony, a desert crossing, and a pleasant pig. Learn more at http://www.ncculture.com/TOS_2008/TOS_home.asp.
Earlier stops for the tour were in Eden and Wilmington. “The staff and patrons have really enjoyed the pictures,” says Rockingham Library Director Jay Stephens. “The staff didn’t want to let it go.”
In New Hanover County, Library Director Dorothy Hodder found patrons pausing to examine the photographs. “They really noticed and appreciated the exhibit. They wrote comments in the book too,” she says. Among comments were, “Wonderful photos, I enjoyed each one!” “Super. I am a photographer.” “Nice art show. My 6-year-old son and I enjoyed it.”
The photographs capture the state’s mountains to the coast, and images by professional photographers may be from the U.S. or abroad. The pictures feature young and old, at work or at play, across cultures and classes, and are in color or black and white.
For information about the exhibit, call (919) 807-7389. To find information on the State Library of North Carolina, visit http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/NCSLHOME.HTM. The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources is a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Now podcasting 24/7 with information available at www.ncculture.com.