Wilson Downtown Gallery: Defy the Machine

Defy the Machine | Wilson Downtown Gallery

We are excited to welcome photograpers Joe Fitzgerald and AJ Morey to the WDG for the months of August and September!

More about their exhibit “Defy the Machine”: “Machine” is a complex and versatile term, referring to a calculated assemblage of parts that together transmit force, motion and energy (transportation, factories, technology). Machine is a metaphor describing the way persons or systems work (methodical, relentless, efficient, tireless).  Machines are part of our identity as a civilization, but it is an identity we struggle with and sometimes resist.  These photographs capture how we defy, embrace or even create the machine.

Join us on Friday September 7th from 5-8pm for the First Fridays Artist Reception.

AJ Morey | Wilson Downtown Gallery

More about AJ Morey:  I’m an English professor and administrator at JMU, and before that I was a Religious Studies professor.  My teaching and professional writing over a 30 year career focused on religion and literature.  That changed about ten years ago.  After chemotherapy, I didn’t want to read anymore; I wanted to look at pictures. I collected antique photographs of people and their dogs, and to justify the expense of the collection, I got creative and I wrote a book about dogs based on my collection:  Picturing Dogs, Seeing Ourselves: American Vintage Photographs (Penn State Press 2014).  Then I wanted to make pictures myself, so I founded Free Spirit Photography LLC.  I specialize in photographs of horses and horse-human relationships, and anything else that catches my eye.  I work closely with several area equine therapy groups, always looking for the visual that tells the story about inter-species communication.

JoeFitzgerald-headshot | Wilson Downtown Gallery

More about Joe Fitzgerald: In 1984, I grabbed a borrowed camera in the middle of the night and ran to the site of a mom-and-pop convenience store burning three streets away. The pictures landed me a job as a newspaper reporter. Since then, I’ve also been a newspaper editor, system manager, network administrator, technical writer, technology coordinator, city council member, mayor, and party hack. And I was also a photographer. The whole time.

mule phone | Wilson Downtown Gallery
Mule Phone owned & reprinted by AJ Morey. Cyko real photo postcard, 1907 -1920. ©Free Spirit Photography LLC
Pourquoi louer deux
Pourquoi louer deux © Joe Fitzgerald

About Claire Wayman

Claire manages details of real estate contracts, coordinates social media and the Wilson Downtown Gallery, and keeps the team organized on a day-to-day basis. In her free time, she enjoys playing flute in various area groups and participating in local community theater.