Every Portrait Tells a Story Teacher and Docent Resource Guide for the Exhibition Nashville Portrait

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Every Portrait Tells a StoryTeacher and Docent
Resource Guide for the ExhibitionNashville
Portraits Photographs by Jim McGuireand
Selected Works from the Permanent Collection
March 6April 26, 2009
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About This Resource Guide

• Dear Educators
• Thank you for your interest in the exhibition
  Nashville Portraits Photographs by Jim
• McGuire. This packet is designed to inspire
  creativity through the use of images and
• hands-on activities. Although these resources can
  be used without a visit to the museum,
• we hope that this guide will encourage you to
  bring your students to the Morris Museum
• of Art for a tour of the exhibition. A PowerPoint
  version of this teachers resource guide is
• available upon request.
• To schedule your group for a tour of this
  exhibition, please contact the education
• programs assistant at 706-828-3867 or visit our
  web site at www.themorris.org to fill out
• a tour reservation form online.
• Tours for this exhibition can be scheduled for
  Tuesday through Saturday, 1000 a.m. to
• 400 p.m.

About the Exhibition
Nashville Portraits Photographs by Jim
McGuire March 6April 26, 2009 Organized by the
Morris Museum of Art, Nashville Portraits is
comprised of sixty black and white photographs of
classic artists such as Kris Kristofferson,
Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, and
Bill Monroe. Through his craftsmanship and
artistry, Jim McGuire has become one of the
most-respected photographers in the music
industry, shaping the public image of some of
Nashville's best-known singers and
musicians, McGuire explains, "Over the past
thirty-five years, I have had the good fortune to
have met, photographed, and befriended many of my
musical heroes. The first musician portraits I
shot are in this series. John Hartford, David
Bromberg, and Vassar Clements were the firstall
shot late one night in 1972 after a gig in New
York. The hand-painted canvas background I used
that night was barely dry and is the same one
used in all these portraits, even today." McGuire
personally selected the works for this
exhibition from the Portraits Series, which now
includes more than a thousand images of
important singers, musicians, and composers.
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Vocabulary

• Background the part of a picture that appears to
  be farthest away from the viewer.
• Caricature a representation of a person in which
  their features are exaggerated.
• Commission the hiring of one or more artists to
  create a work of art.
• Composition the arrangement of elements, such as
  shape, line, and color, in a work of art.
• Digital Print a reproduction of a digital image
  on a surface.
• Focal point an area of an artwork that first
  attracts and usually sustains the viewer's
• attention.
• Foreground the part of a picture that seems
  closest to the viewer.
• Middle ground the part of a picture that lies
  between the background and the foreground.
• Painter an artist who paints.

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About the Artist Jim McGuire

• Born in New Jersey, May 17, 1941.
• Became fascinated with country music at the age
  of 12, when he heard a Hank Snow
• recording, Spanish Fireball, at a Boy Scout
  camp in 1953.
• Joined the air force during the Vietnam War and
  was assigned to take aerial
• photographs with a 35mm camera. This was his
  first experience with photography.
• Attended the New York Institute of Photography.
• His first job was a darkroom technician in New
  York for photographer John Foote, who
• photographed actors and Broadway singers. This is
  where McGuires photographic
• education really began.
• Through John Foote, he met fashion photographer
  Irving Penn who became McGuires
• biggest artistic influence.
• In 1968, he worked as a corporate photographer
  for TWA. He left his position after one
• year and has been a freelance artist ever since.

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About the Artist Jim McGuire (continued)

• McGuire prefers to work in black and white
  because color is too literal. He does all of
• his own darkroom work, and all of the silver
  images included in Nashville Portraits were
• printed by him.
• Although he prefers silver prints, McGuire scans
  his negatives and creates digital
• prints and generally offers these for sale.
• McGuire does not have a preconceived idea of how
  he wants a finished portrait to look.
• Before each session, he will meet with the
  musician and use this conversation as a basis
• for each pose.
• He encourages the musicians to wear their normal
  working clothes and to bring their
• favorite items or instruments with them. He does
  not want to stage the images instead,
• he would rather that the portraits come
  naturally, allowing the sitters personality to
  come
• out through movement and body language.
• When McGuire wants to shoot a portrait, he will
  often call around until he finds a
• personal connection. Once he has contacted the
  musician he wants to photograph, he
• arranges for him or her to visit his studio,
  where he has the specific backdrop he

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Lets Take a Look at Early Portraits
James Hamilton Shegogue (18061872)Portrait of
African-American Woman Between 1825 and 1833
Oil on panel
George Cooke (17931849)Portrait of Western
Berkeley Thomas and Emily Howard Thomas of
Augusta, Georgia1840Oil on canvas

• The two portraits above were painted before the
  American Civil War. Portraits were
• painted by itinerant artists who were
  commissioned by the family members of the
  sitters.
• Before the era of photography, the physical
  appearance and social status of a person or a
• family could be memorialized in a painting. As a
  result, portraits at that time became the
• most popular forms of artwork among those who
  could afford to pay for them.
• Discussion
• What is a portrait? Why do we have our portraits
  made?
• Look closely at the two portraits. Name
  everything you see.
• How are they posed? What are they wearing?
• Notice the background. Where are the sitters
  located?
• What expressions or emotions do the sitters have?
• What can you tell about the people in the
  portraits?
• How do we have our portraits made today?
• If you were to have your portrait made today, how
  would you pose?
• What would you wear? What object or favorite pet
  would you hold?

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Compare and Contrast
Thomas Sully (17831872)Portrait of Levi
Fletcher1830Oil on canvas
Jim McGuire Vince Gill Studio portrait/Nashville 1
985 Silver print
The two portraits above were created by two
different artists, Jim McGuire and Thomas Sully.
Jim McGuire is a contemporary photographer who
photographs his portraits using a camera in his
studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas Sully was
known as the leading portrait painter in
Philadelphia until he died in 1872. In Jim
McGuires photograph, the sitter is the country
music performer Vince Gill, who was born in
Oklahoma and has played in many bluegrass bands.
In Thomas Sullys portrait, the sitter is Levi
Fletcher, born in Massachusetts, an Episcopalian
clergyman who died as a chaplain in the U.S. Army
at Mobile, Alabama. Discussion Look closely at
the two portraits. How are the portraits similar?
How are they different? What mediums did the
artists use to create these portraits? How did
the artists use light in the portraits? Is there
a contrast between light and dark? How are the
sitters in the portraits dressed? Are they
holding any objects? If so, what are they? Can
you guess the ages of the two sitters? By looking
at these two portraits, what have we learned
about the two sitters?
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Portraits and Their Stories
Jim McGuire Dolly Parton Studio
portrait/Vanderbilt 1974 Silver print
Jim McGuire Bill Monroe Studio portrait/Nashville
1989 Digital print

• The two photographs above were created by Jim
  McGuire and are included in the
• exhibition Nashville Portraits. McGuire created
  portraits of country and bluegrass singers
• and performers. In this series, he photographed
  all of his sitters in black and white.
• McGuire wants the musicians to bring their own
  instruments and show up for the photo
• shoot wearing their work clothing. McGuire does
  not want his subjects to pose but wants
• the portraits to come naturally, letting their
  personality show through.
• Discussion
• What is a photographer? What does he use to
  create a photograph?
• How did the photographer create these two
  portraits?
• What is the focal point of these two works?
• What objects are the sitters holding? What does
  this say about them?
• What do we know about the people portrayed in the
  photographs?
• What story do you think they have to tell?
• Compare and contrast the expressions of the two
  people.
• Why do you think the photographer chose not to
  use color?
• How does the use of black and white affect in the
  portrait?

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Activity Lesson Portrait Reporter
Objective Students will learn how to interview
and photograph a person of their choice. Students
will develop a story about the person and will
display the portraits together.Materials
Paper, pencil, digital or 35mm camera, matt
board, glue.Procedures Step 1 Have the
students interview someone they admire, a family
member or friend. Have the students come up with
a list of questions they would like to know about
the person they will be interviewing. Step 2
After the interviews, have the students take
photographs of their subjects. Make sure they pay
close attention to details and photograph the
sitter in their favorite attire or with their
favorite object or animal. Step 3 The students
will prepare a short stories about the people
they interviewed.Step 4 Have the students
display their stories and photographs on matt
board to display in the classroom or to share
with the class.
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Portraits of Characters
Noah Kinney Articia Gene1983Paint, wood,
fabric, metal, and plastic

• The self-taught artist Noah Kinney created
  portrait sculptures of people and
• animals from his imagination. The materials he
  used were mainly wood and
• found objects.
• Look closely at the artwork.
• Name everything you see in it.
• Is this a real person or is it one that was
  created as a character?
• What is the sitters expression?
• How is she posed?
• What is this person wearing?
• Who is this person? Does she have a story?
• What story does she have to tell?
• What materials did the artist use to create this
  sculpture?

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Activity Lesson Creative Caricatures

• Objective Students will create caricatures from
  photographs of a friend or family
• member or from a magazine photograph. Students
  will create a stories about their
• caricatures.
• Materials photograph of a person, pencils,
  drawing paper, colored pencils or crayons,
• black Magic Markers.
• Procedures
• Step 1 Have students use their photographs to
  make a contour line drawing of the
• head and shoulders of their subjects. Students
  can use lines to exaggerate the facial
• features of the person.
• Step 2 Have the students go over their contour
  line drawing with a black Magic Marker.
• Step 3 Students will add color to their drawings
  with colored pencils or crayons.
• Step 4 Have the students write short stories
  about their caricatures. Have them write
• about where they live, what they like to do for
  fun, favorite foods, etc.
• Step 5 Have students share their caricatures and
  stories with the rest of the class.

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Resources

• Nashville Portraits Legends of Country Music
  Sixty Portraits, by Jim McGuire introduction by
  William R. Ferris. Guilford, Connecticut Lyons
  Press, 2007.
• www.nashvilleportraits.com
• www.themorris.org