Kemi Bennings – ChanteSez.com

Back in March, “Everbody’s favorite photographer” John Crooms and Kemi Bennings of Evolve! Artists Live invited the movers and shakers of Atlanta’s cultural scene to a reprise of the “A Great Day in Atlanta” photo shoot in honor of the photo’s 10th anniversary.

Bennings first pitched Crooms on the idea in 2002 after seeing the “A Great Day in Harlem” photo circa August 1958 at an artist gathering in Washington, D.C.

Crooms took the original “A Great Day in Atlanta” photo on the steps of the Woodruff Library at Clark Atlanta University on March 30, 2003.

Both photos, along with other images by Crooms, will be exhibited at Art of Giving Gallery on Friday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m.

Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall will also be on hand to deliver a proclamation honoring the artists that are captured in “A Great Day In Atlanta.”

The show is Crooms’ first solo exhibit, and Bennings is determined to make it special for him. She plans to include “multimedia aspects, captions, things that might now be considered our artifacts in representing the people in the arts and music scene, pop-up performances, a nice reception and congratulatory toast,” according to the Indiegogo page dedicated to the exhibit.

Here’s more on why the photo is significant.

“Amen! Ashe! Word!” The one-night-only Ministers of Sound installation on Sunday, Feb. 24, transformed Space 2 into an artistic sanctuary worthy of the DJs honored in the installation — as well as the curator’s late father.

About five years after initially conceiving the project, Kemi Bennings of Evolve! Artists Live, along with a buzzing crowd of about 200, saw — and felt — it come to life.

The warehouse-style room had undergone a cultural sanctification that started in the wee hours, complete with stained glass framed and hung from the ceiling, centuries-old pews, and the iconic red carpet runner that led from the door to the “pulpit.”

It was there that a number of the DJs honored in the photos took to the turntables.

The DJ procession included DJ Jamal Ahmad (WCLK-FM 91.9), DJ Kai Alce, DJ Salah Ananse, DJ Applejac, DJ Ausar, DJ Karl Injex, DJ Cha-Cha Jones, DJ K emit, DJ Osmose, DJ Ramon Rawsoul (House In The Park), DJ Sky, DJ Tabone (WRFG-FM 89.3) and DJ Mike Zarin.

Each played two songs, which Bennings had directed should “inspire and empower the crowd.”

I found myself most grateful for Cha-Cha’s hip-hop leanings, Applejac’s golden and timeless beats that you know but yet don’t, and Ahmad’s Stevie Wonder selections.

Although the music added to the rapturous atmosphere, the photography served as the basis for the installation.

The photos were taken by Annette Brown. They captured each DJ in an environment — and sometimes in spiritual garb — that reflected his or her own spiritual aesthetic. The photo titles, printed on a label pasted onto a 45-inch record, also reflected those beliefs.

In some cases, captions that Bennings wrote about various spiritual tenants were matched up with a DJ.

Tag: Kemi Bennings

Past meets present in ‘A Great Day in Atlanta’ photo exhibit

Ministers of Sound lifts up Atlanta’s best DJs through photos and music