documentingBlues

April 21 - June 24, 2017

Jenn Ocken has been photographing blues culture for over a decade, capturing the often emotional reactions and experiences of the legendary music scene. She has been working professionally since 2002 building a library of images that she calls “documentingBlues.” Her work focuses on blues musicians in the midst of their performances, as well as interactions from fans and relationships with other musicians.

Included in this exhibition are photographs taken by Ocken over the years at the International Blues Challenge, located in Memphis, Tennessee. This series of photographs has recently culminated in a book titled, Blues on Beale Street: Memoirs of the International Blues Challenge, which Ocken describes as “a love letter told in photographs, accompanied by a series of written experiences.”