Charity Ponter on “Ground Beneath My Feet: Collaborative Portraits with Visual Artists in My Hometown”

We recently asked Birmingham, Alabama-based artist Charity Ponter a few questions about her exhibition, Ground Beneath My Feet: Collaborative Portraits with Visual Artists in My Hometown, on display now in the Coleman Gallery at WMA. She published the series of photographs that make up the show in a book by the same name earlier this year, a follow-up to her 2015 publication, for the beauty of: Birmingham, which featured 14 Southern artists in their Birmingham studios.

Learn more about Charity, her artistic process, and the importance of community in her work by reading this short interview. Then come take in the Ground Beneath My Feet before it closes on December 29th.

Charity Ponter, “Sara Garden Armstrong – Untitled,” 2018, Photo print on matte board

WMA: What was your motivation for creating this series of portraits? 

Ponter: Wherever I have lived, investing in and maintaining community with others is one of my highest priorities. Within creative community, collaboration occurs naturally, as artists inspire each other, work together, and exchange ideas. I wanted to work on a photo series wherein myself and those collaborating with me had total artistic freedom with no agenda other than to produce one final portrait. I wanted to loosen my grip on results and play my way through subconsciousness and process in order to catch a glimpse of the artists’ inner self.

Charity Ponter, “Celeste Amparo Pfau – Forest Floor,” 2017, Photo print on matte board

WMA: You published a book several years ago featuring photographs of Birmingham artists in their studios. Did this project feel like a continuation of that one or was it a completely different project with a separate focus? 

Ponter: This series was a continuation of my first book but in a way I hadn’t anticipated. When I published my first book, I expected it to become a series that I would expand throughout other cities in Alabama and even other states. As is part of the natural progression of artistic growth, the nature of my work shifted from strictly documentary as I began to experiment more with conceptual portraiture. The subject (local artists) remained the same but the style and objective changed.

Charity Ponter, “Leah Thornton – Untitled,” 2018, Photo print on matte board

Charity Ponter, “John Lytle Wilson – Preacherman,” 2018, Photo print on matte board

Charity Ponter, “Brad Morton – Untitled,” 2017, Photo print on matte board

Charity Ponter, “Cammie Windlay Sanders – Swamp Aphrodite,” 2018, Photo print on matte board