“600 sq mi: Photos from Houston”

When Jim Parsons and the folks at Houstonist.com came up with the idea for a photo exhibition on Houston, they weren’t expecting an international response. “600 sq mi: Photos from Houston” was originally meant to showcase local talent. “There were two goals. One was to show some excellent images of Houston that we knew existed that may not get the recognition that they should get,” Parsons says. “And two was to highlight the work of some of [our] photographers.” Later on, Parsons decided to open the event up to readers as well. “I kind of thought it would be all Houstonians, but we had entries from across the U.S. and even in Paris — France, not Texas,” Parsons says.

The exhibit includes 60 photographs that have been taken in or around the Houston area. “We were looking for not just skyline shots and shots of the Water Wall,” says Parsons, “but for pictures of people and the details that really make us love Houston.” The show includes images from downtown such as Tracy Manford’s Looking Up, in which she does just that inside the Jean DuBuffet sculpture Monument au Fantôme on Louisiana Street. The sculpture’s squiggly appendages appear to be reaching up to the buildings that tower over them. Also on Louisiana, Todd Hanzelka snapped a shot of the sunset creating a cool shadow that seems to be closing in on a passerby. And Jackson Myers captured the tranquility of the shaded streets in Rice Village with Live Oaks HDR. See these and other reasons Houston isn’t all heat and construction at “600 sq mi.”
Sept. 8-Oct. 7, 2007