 Letter from the Executive Director: catherine J. Alston
 In the twinkling of an eye – change happens.
Blink and click the shutter to capture the moment.
Through the lens of Sistagraphy members’ cameras, the layers of the human spirit begin to unfold.
Through a shared love of photography, we come together; and using our cameras, we interpret with unbridled passion, the human condition in all its strength and failties. Photographically, we capture the gamut of emotion-- from hope to helplessness, from beauty to powerlessness, from happiness to heartbreak; and finally, from life to its inevitability, death. We are Sistagraphy----Sisters in photography. We capture life as we see it; interpreting it through our cameras.
As a diverse collective of African American women, we know that a photograph has a soul all its own, and we capture the immortal moment, and document events that awaken the consciousness that is woven into society’s fabric.
We explore and embrace theme-based imagery.
Our visual documentaries tell a story of life’s journeys, often capturing ordinary people in extraordinary places, situations or circumstances.
For 10 years, in honor and celebration of International Women’s Month, Sistagraphy has partnered with the Atlanta based women’s photography group, Women In Focus. In 2009, Sistagraphy and Women In Focus collaborated with the non-profit girls organization, Girls, Inc. to produce “Dear World”. During January young girl photographers and seasoned photographers gathered in nature and urban spaces to photograph visual messages to the world. The photographs were on public exhibition March 2009 at the Atlanta Fulton Public Library, Central Branch. In 2008 Sistagraphy again looked through our cameras at the changing scenery of Atlanta and black neighborhoods across the United States of America. We appropriately named the exhibit, “Disappearing Black Neighborhoods”. The photographs, exhibited on the campus of at Georgia State University, chronicled the changing social and aesthetic landscape of Black communities.
We have formed allegiances with other creative groups and, most recently; October 2009, Sistagraphy was proud to be the featured artist for the premier of Atlanta-based TheatreSouth, Inc. production of “The Colored Museum” at the Sanford Porter III Performing Arts and Community Center.
Other photography exhibitions have included invitation to exhibit in “Reclamation of Memory” presented during the 2009 National Black Arts Festival and invitation to exhibit in the innovative eco-community Serenbe Arts Walk in October 2009. Our themed exhibition of photographs have been designed to “make you feel good”, such as “Good Vibrations” presented during the 2008 Atlanta Celebrates Photography as well as, “to make you think” representative in our exhibition ‘Food for the Soul”.
Our visual perspectives have also been viewed in local and national art galleries, as well as public spaces, libraries and many college campuses. Our membership extend as far away as New York, to the west coast of California.
As we lay bare our photographic souls, we invite you into our journey of self.
Through the eyes of our lens—
And of all the wonders that you view—
You may be surprised to see—
The most magnificent wonder—
Is You.
Yours in Artistry
Catherine J. Alston
Executive Director, Sistagraphy
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
2011 “ Spaces: Great and Small”, Atlanta –Fulton Public Library/Central, Atlanta,GA
“Kaleidoscope”, In conjunction with Atlanta Celebrates Photography, The Beignet Connection, Atlanta, GA
2010
“Lifescapes: Where I cast my eyes from where I am”, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library/Buckhead/Central, Atlanta, GA
“Autonomy: A Conversation with Self”, In conjunction with Atlanta Celebrates Photography, Southwest Arts Center Theater & Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2009
“Dear World: A Visual Message to the World”, In collaboration with Girls, Inc. ( Marietta, Georgia) and Women in Focus (Atlanta, Georgia ), Atlanta-Fulton Public Library/Central, Atlanta, GA
“Sistagraphy Selects”, Morgan County African- American Museum, Madison, GA
“Reclamation of Memory”, As a part of the 2009 National Black Arts Festival, Curated by Lynn Marshall Linnemeier, Madison Morgan Cultural Center, Madison, GA
“The Colored Museum”, Porter Sanford III Performing Arts & Community Center, Decatur, GA
“On Line?”, In conjunction with Atlanta Celebrates photography 2009, www. Sistagraphy.org
2008
“Disappearing Black Neighborhoods”, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
“Changing Faces: Moving Dreams”, Auburn Avenue Research Library On African American Culture and History, Atlanta, GA
“Good Vibrations”, The New Arts Exchange, Atlanta GA
2007
“Free for All”, Temple Gallery, Dekalb Council For the Arts, Decatur, GA
“Just Between Us…A Reflection of Women’s Lives”, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library / Central, Atlanta, GA
2006
“Food for the Soul”, Milliken Art Gallery, Converse College, Spartanburg, SC
“Soaring Without Wings”, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA
“Life Shows Up”, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library / Central, Atlanta, GA
“Free for All”, Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody, GA
2005
“Tellin’ It Like It Is”, West End Performing Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
“Duality: Food for the Soul & Paradox”, The Cultural Arts Center of Douglasville, Douglasville, GA
“Quickening”, Mason Murer, Atlanta, GA
“Passing the Light”, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library / Central, Atlanta, GA
2004
“Continuous Vision: The Sistagraphy Retrospective, New & Selected Works”, Auburn Avenue
Research Library on African American Culture and History, Atlanta, GA
“Storm In A Tea Cup”, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library / Central, Atlanta, GA
“My Favorite Things”, Mason Murer, Atlanta, GA
2003
“Continuous Vision: The Sistagraphy Retrospective, 1993 – 2003”, Chastain Gallery, Atlanta, GA
“Verse & Vision”, Atlanta – Fulton Public Library / Central, Atlanta, GA
2002
“Silence Speaks”, The Contemporary, Atlanta, GA
“From the Beginning”, Center for Aids and Humanity, Atlanta, GA
“Weather Equals the World”, Art Farm, Atlanta, GA
“Connected Vision”, Atlanta-Fulton County Library / Buckhead, Atlanta, GA
“Gyration 02”, West End Performing Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
“Re-Rewind”, Georgia Perimeter College / Clarkston Campus, Clarkston, GA
2001
“A Sense of Passion”, Georgia Perimeter College / Clarkston Campus, Clarkston, GA
“Power of Self”, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library / Central, Atlant a, GA
2000
“What’s Going On”, Gilbert House, Atlanta, GA
“Rewind”, Studioplex, Atlanta, GA
“Paradox” and “Food for the Soul”, Salem College, Winston-Salem, NC
“Gyration”, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
“A Common Thread”, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library / Central, Atlanta, GA
1999
“Identity Check”, Youth Art Connection Gallery, Atlanta, GA
“Paradox”, Native Sun Gallery, Smyrna, GA
“Food for the Soul”, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
“Sista to Sister”, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library / Central, Atlanta, GA
1998
“Food for the Soul”, Backdrop Gallery, Atlanta, GA
“Gyration”, Rush Art Gallery, New York, NY
1997
“Gyration”, Hammonds House Galleries and Resource Center, Atlanta, GA
1996
“And Still We Rise”, M Print Gallery, Atlanta, GA
“From the Soul”, Delta Sigma Theta House Alumnae Chapter, Columbus, GA
1995
“From the Soul”, M Print Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1994
“Members Show”, West End Performing Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
1993
“An Exhibition 9 Diverse Women Photographers”, Frames and Fine Arts, Atlanta, GA
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
“Photos Affirm Lives of Black Women”, 2003 Atlanta Journal & Constitution
“Weather Girls”, Creative Loafing, February 2002, pg. 61, Atlanta, GA
“Collecting African American Art”, Halima Taha, Crown Publishers, 1999
“Arts Scene”, American Visions, June/July 1998
“Zone With Passion”, June/July 1998, pg. 2
“Swing Out Sisters”, Creative Loafing, 1997, Atlanta, GA
“Catching the Dancers in the Act”, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, June 1997
“Seeing the Dancers and the Dance”, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, July 1997
“From the Soul”, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, July 1995
LECTURES / WORKSHOPS / ARTIST TALKS
2005 - “Gender in Motion African American Women Artist Collective”, National Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Atlanta, GA
“Duality-Food for the Soul” and “Paradox” The Cultural Arts Center of Douglasville, Douglasville, GA
2004 - “Conversation with Sistagraphy”, Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture & History
“The Sistagraphy Retrospective”, WABA-TV Fox 5, Atlanta, GA, WRFG, 89.3, Atlanta, GA
2000 - “Iconography”, Salem College, Winston-Salem, NC
“Sistagraphy: Gyrations”, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
1999 - “Identity Check”, Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
1997 - “Sistagraphy: Gyrations”, WABA-TV Fox 5, Atlanta, GA
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More than a century and a half ago, Jules Lion, a Parisian of part African-American descent, introduced the daguerreotype, an early form of photographic print, to the world. Within a few years, the first African-American photographers emerged. By 1920, the United States Census Bureau’s statistics identified 608 black photographers of whom 101 were women.