Tours at 2 – “Dear B.J.: Postcards from the Pandemic”

Join William King Museum of Art for our upcoming Tours at Two with photographer and printmaker, L.S. King. King began photographing her neighborhood during her daily walks in March of 2020, when social isolation became the normal way of life. When discussing her work, she said, “These images are purposefully reminiscent of the photography prevalent during the 1918 pandemic, specifically Pictorialism. Pictorialism implored photographic manipulation to heighten grain, soften the focus, and increase shadows to enhance the images’ emotive and atmospheric qualities.”

L.S. King will be giving an artist talk about her latest series, Dear B.J.: Postcards from the Pandemic. As you gaze at the artwork, you notice that the title card is in fact a handwritten postcard. As a viewer, you begin to weave in and out of atmospheric images and dialogue between the characters “B.J.” and “Me.” In a narrative set far into the future, you play a key role in uncovering the mysterious interaction between the characters whose spirits linger among the handwritten postcards.

King explains, “The premise behind my Dear B.J.: Postcards from the Pandemic series…is my creative nonfiction interpretation of life in Appalachia during the COVID-19 pandemic, as imagined through intimate postcard sized images and one side of written correspondence. Each card features a black and white photograph with a backside written to a mysterious B.J. and signed by ‘ME.’ Through these vagaries, I invite you to share my world. Perhaps you wonder who B.J. was, or maybe you know. Perhaps you relate to ‘ME,’ who signed the postcards…As you think about it all, possibly you overlay my visual narrative over your own.”

King is a photographer and printmaker. She was selected by the Felix Schoeller Photo Awards in Osnabruck, Germany, as one of five best emerging photographers.

To learn more about L.S. King’s photographic process, influences, publication, and interwoven printmaking methods, please attend our FREE Tours at Two with the artist, at 2pm on Sunday, November 13th. Light refreshments will be provided.

L.S. King’s book can be purchased by emailing lscherking@gmail.com. Visit lskingphotography.com to see more works of art from L.S. King!

To reserve a spot please contact Anna Buchanan at 276.628.5005 Ext. 106 or abuchanan@wkmuseum.org