From August 3-31, 2018, New City Arts presents Cville People Everyday, a photography exhibit by Eze Amos.
New City Arts' Welcome Gallery
114 3rd St. NE, Charlottesville, VA 22902
First Fridays
August 3 from 5-7:30 PM. Artist talk at 6 PM.
Gallery Hours
Noon-4 PM, Monday-Friday
Sponsors
Welcome Gallery Exhibit Opening Receptions are presented by Northwestern Mutual; sponsored by Ting, the JLRS Family Fund, and Nick Watson; and supported by a Bamaworks Grant from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.
Eze recently received a Heal Charlottesville Fund grant from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. The grant will support a community art and history project intended to highlight the experiences of the former residents of the Vinegar Hill neighborhood, which was destroyed during “urban renewal” in the 1960s.
Exhibition Statement (provided by the artist)
As a photographer, I have felt the need to tell the story of the City of Charlottesville as I have come to see it. I have chosen the downtown mall as the space to do this project. About two years ago I started documenting everyday life of the people of Charlottesville on the mall. I deliberately didn't want to interview people or even get to know their names. Instead I just wanted the images to speak for themselves. This practice evolved into an ongoing project I call Cville People Everyday. The images on display will show the downtown mall and the immediate surroundings as I see it. They are 100% unposed and several allude to aspects of the city some of us don’t see, some of us refuse to see, and some of us see but never want to talk about. My hope is to show you Charlottesville from a different perspective and maybe alter your view of this city I have come to call home. I will also be showing one piece introducing a new portrait and oral history project on Vinegar Hill, which is currently under development.
About the Artist (provided by the artist)
Eze Amos is the Spring 2018 New City Artist in Residence. He is a documentary photographer and photojournalist based in Charlottesville.
In 2008, Eze immigrated to Charlottesville from Nigeria to join his partner Kristina, a writer and community organizer. As a young adult in Nigeria, Eze trained in the sciences but secretly nurtured a passion for photography. He initially discovered the craft by stumbling on a beat-up book in a library, then eventually repaired a broken camera and shot his first rolls of black and white film. Those rolls were among the few possessions he brought with him to the US. When Eze finally had a chance to develop the film, he discovered images that he still cherishes and displays today.
Eze became a proud US citizen in 2014, the same year he fulfilled his dream of launching a professional photography business. Whether he's shooting weddings and family events, partnering with organizations and media outlets, or just out walking with his camera, Eze loves capturing people at their most authentic.
His current projects include a street photography project (#cvillepeopleeveryday) and documenting local resistance actions over the past several years. Eze's work is regularly featured in Cville Weekly and Edible Blue Ridge, and his images have also been published by the Washington Post, CNN, AP, and Reuters.
Artwork image courtesy of the artist.
