Lucinda Bunnen shows collections at Swan Coach; Lovett explores Civil War photography

This Lucinda Bunnen photo of her camera collection is included in "Lucinda s World, Part 2: A Collection of Collections, " opening Jan. 15 at the Swan Coach House Gallery.

Credit: hpousner

Credit: hpousner

This Lucinda Bunnen photo of her camera collection is included in "Lucinda s World, Part 2: A Collection of Collections, " opening Jan. 15 at the Swan Coach House Gallery.

‘Lucinda’s World’ exhibits collecting passion

After last fall's "Lucinda's World" exhibition at Mason Murer Fine Art, where gallery-goers could browse 50 prints by Lucinda Bunnen, kick back on her mid-century yellow couch, flip through her scrapbooks and peruse her travel journals, how much more is there to know about the first lady of Atlanta photography?

Lucinda Bunnen. BRANDT SANDERLIN / bsanderlin@ajc.com

Credit: hpousner

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Credit: hpousner

Plenty, as anyone who knows the photographer, philanthropist and collector of art and many other things could tell you.

More of the far-ranging interests of the tireless 80-something will be on exhibit when the Swan Coach House Gallery opens “Lucinda’s World, Part II: A Collection of Collections” on Jan. 15.

As the show’s (the second in a planned series of three, it turns out) title suggests, Bunnen’s passion for collecting is the focus this time. The focal point will be 27 photographs that she began creating earlier this year when she decided to document some of her collections, from Coca-Cola memorabilia and old coins to heart-shaped rocks and timeworn locks. The playful side of her collecting also will be exposed, for instance, in images of chanterelle mushrooms she gathered one day on a walk through her woods and of vintage clothing from her closet modeled by Atlanta drag queen Violet Chachki.

Additionally, a variety of objects from Bunnen’s collections will be displayed on pedestals.

Bunnen will give an artist talk at 7 p.m. Feb. 12, with High Museum of Art photography curator Brett Abbott serving as guest speaker.

Through Feb. 20. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 3130 Slaton Drive, Atlanta. 404-266-2636, www.swancoachhouse.com/gallery.

Talk, exhibit focus on Civil War pictures

Noted New York University art historian Deborah Willis will present a talk, “Reading Images of the Civil War,” at 6 p.m. Jan. 15, at the Lovett School’s Hendrix-Chenault Theater.

Headshot, 2008 Photography historian Deborah Willis.

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Credit: hpousner

The lecture will trace technical developments of photography and the medium’s role in the national debate about slavery in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

An exhibition of 30 photographs from the archives of the Library of Congress, as seen in Willis’ recent book with Barbara Krauthamer, “Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery,” will accompany the lecture. It will remain on view in the Lovett Galleria through March.

Also on view will be a collection of student-produced photographs using the historic wet plate collodion process (or “tintypes”).

Admission is free, but reservations are suggested: call 404-262-3032, ext. 1717, or email carol.cummings@lovett.org. Light refreshments will be served starting at 5:30 p.m. More on Lovett’s four-year lecture series presented with the Atlanta History Center, “The Civil War and the Forging of Character” lecture series: www.lovett.org/civilwar.