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Oraien Catledge "Two
Girls with Eye Disease" Decatur, GA - Oraien Catledge became interested in photography in 1977 after viewing a collection of photographs in San Francisco that were taken by a colleague who was legally blind. In 1980, Catledge, who also has a visual disability, began a project "Cabbagetown", named after a poor mill town near downtown Atlanta, Georgia. This industrial town has refused to be moved or altered by the approaching ideals of the big city. Catledge developed an affinity to these subjects and found them reminiscent of his memories of rural, southern life in the forties and fifties. He also intricately catalogued the inhabitants who were living in near poverty and substandard housing. His project encompassed 15 years of work resulting in over 50,000 negatives of various neighbors and their children. Catledge has challenges focusing with the rapid movement of subjects and with photographing in low light. Yet, Catledge believes that "first class photography is possible with certain limited vision, that is, is if you have the passion." Catledge photographs have been published in Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Weekly, Women and Children Living in Poverty, and You Can See Me. The University of Texas Press published his book entitled Cabbagetown in 1985. |
