On the Frontline

Atlanta photojournalist Ryan Vizzions heads into conflict zones to capture images

By Isadora Pennington

Natural disasters, protests and matters of life or death – these are the subjects that Atlanta-based independent photojournalist Ryan Vizzions is dedicated to capturing when he’s in the field. “When I go and I cover issues, it’s because I am passionate about knowing what is happening,” he explained. “I want to understand what’s happening.”

Vizzions’ path started with grief. After his father’s suicide in 2009, he was struggling with the loss, and turned to photography as a means to cope.

Initially, he took photos of street scenes around Atlanta, but then he decided to quit his job bought a plane ticket to Thailand, and landed in the middle of the Red Shirt Protests against dictatorship. Vizzions grabbed his camera and went to check out the resistance compound in the middle of the city. Everyone assumed he was a journalist. “That’s kind of what sparked my interest in social justice,” he said.

In the years that followed, Vizzions found himself on the front line of various conflicts, often in the very heart of community movements. His work first gained international attention when he began documenting the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Welcomed by community elders and leaders of the movement, Vizzions found himself at the center of the conflict, documenting the water cannons and tanks contrasting sharply to prayer circles, ceremonies and the day-today lives of the water protectors.

“Especially as an independent photojournalist, they really took me and showed appreciation,” Vizzions said of the community at Standing Rock. “When you have your heart behind your work, they work with you.”

Vizzions was one of the only truly independent media sources that covered the events that unfolded in North Dakota, and as a result his photos provided a unique perspective from inside the community. The powerful portraits of water protectors confronting soldiers have been printed in publications around the world, and he has won a number of awards for his work.

Late last year, Vizzions wet to Puerto Rico in the wake of hurricanes that devastated the island’s power grid. Working with the local community and town officials, he documented their struggle to regain some sense of normalcy in the absence of electricity. Vizzions said without the internet, Puerto Ricans felt –and still feel – shut off and ignored by the outside world and the government.

“One thing I’ve learned is that if you stay neutral in situations between the oppressed and the oppressors, you’re pretty much just being complicit with the oppressors,” he explained, admitting that he does bring a bias to his coverage of these events.

For Vizzions, that’s actually the point. Given that he is not represented by any publication, and instead does grassroots fundraising to finance his trips, he only goes after issues that strike him as being in significant need of independent media coverage.

Neither the power outages in Puerto Rico nor the Standing Rock protests are over, and Vizzions feels that he has an obligation to keep awareness up about these issues. “I feel like I owe it to the movement to continue to talk about it and get it out there until it’s over,” Vizzions said.

He’s also working on a book about his experience at Standing Rock.

For more about Vizzions’ work, visit ryanvizzions.com and on social media @ ryanvizzions.

Visual Arts

Ancient Blue Ornament: In this exhibit at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center Kamrooz Aram utilizes painting, sculpture, and photography to examine the intersections between ornamental non-Western art, which has often been deemed “minor” throughout Western art history, and Modernism with its great phobia of the ornamental. Tuesday through Sunday. Free. atlantacontemporary. org

A Corner of Nature: Thomas Deans Fine Art presents an exhibit by Donald Beal, David Kidd and Stephen Pentak, three artists who are inspired by nature. Monday through Saturday. Free! thomasdeansfineart. com

Ebola: People + Public Health + Political Will: This exhibition at the

David J. Sencer CDC Museum is an investigation of the historic 2014-16 Ebola Fever Virus epidemic in West Africa, the United States, and around the world. Monday through Friday. Free. cdc. gov/museum

From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried & Selected Works: Hammonds House Museum presents an exhibit by Carrie Mae Weems that exposes how photography has played a key role throughout history in shaping and supporting racism, stereotyping and social injustice. Wednesday through Sunday. $3 to $7. hammondshouse. org

¡NUEVOlution!: This major exhibition at the Atlanta History Center explores the surprising ways that Latinos are shaping the South and the South is shaping Latinos. Open daily. Free to $21.50.

atlantahistorycenter.com

Reconstructions: For this exhibit at the Swan Coach House Gallery, artists respond to a provisional city landscape in their works. Through Feb. 16. Free. swangallery.org

Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt: The Carlos Museum presents “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt,” an exhibition featuring cats and lions (and even dogs and jackals) in ancient Egyptian mythology, kingship, and everyday life. Opens Feb. 10. Free to $8. carlos.emory.edu

Designing a Playful City: If Atlanta is to be a great city in which to live, designing great places for children to play must become a top priority, and MODA’s new exhibition explores design for play. Opens Feb. 18. Free to $10. museumofdesign.org beloved blues, jazz and gospel singer Francine Reed will pay tribute to Johnny Mercer’s incomparable legacy by performing a selection of his many hits at Rialto Center for the Arts. Feb. 11. $31 to $63. rialtocenter.org

King Hedley II: In 1980s inner city Pittsburgh King Hedley II is an ex-con peddling stolen refrigerators to save up for his own business and hopefully a new life in this play by True Colors Theatre Company performed at Southwest Arts Center. Opens Feb. 13. $20 to $35. truecolorstheatre.org

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Discover dance that reveals our deepest humanity and our capacity to endure when the Ailey company returns to Atlanta’s Fox Theatre for one week only. Feb. 14 through 18. $21.50 to $85.50. foxtheatre.org

St. Vincent: See St. Vincent, known for her literate, emotionally intricate songs and rich, beautifully crafted pop melodies, at The Tabernacle. Feb. 17. $38.50. tabernacleatl. com

The Mystery of Love and Sex: She’s Jewish, he’s Christian, he’s black, she’s white. Their differences intensify their connection until sexual desire complicates everything in this show by Out Front Theatre Company. Feb. 1 through 18. $15 to $25. outfronttheatre.com

Nufonia Must Fall by Kid Koala

Monday, Feb. 12 7:30 pm

Tuesday, Feb. 13 7:30 pm

A tender love story of a robot on the verge of obsolescence–mixing puppets, live string quartet, and film. DJ and musician Kid Koala presents his graphic novel-turned-movie where the action is filmed and edited in real time to create a live silent film, all in view of the audience.

Rebirth Brass Band

Saturday, Feb. 24 8:00 pm

It’s a Mardi Gras celebration with the famed New Orleans group known for combining traditional brass band music with funk, jazz, soul, and hip-hop.

Thaddeus Phillips and Lucidity Suitcase

Intercontinental:

17 Border Crossings

Fri./Sat., March 2-3 8:00 pm

Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age: From furniture generated by algorithms to a “living” lampshade made of genetically modified cells, the work of pioneering Dutch designer Joris Laarman - on view at the High Museum of Art - redefines the boundaries between art, science and technology. Opens Feb. 18. Free to $14.50. high.org

Pulp Addiction: Alan Avery Fine Art presents an exhibit by Anatoly Tsiris, who has gained high recognition for his largescale woodturnings. Opens Feb. 23. Free. alanaveryartcompany.com

Performing Arts

Dinosaur!: Alliance Theatre presents this play for young children that is a gentle and awe-inspiring introduction to the wonders of the pre-historic world. Through Feb. 18. Free to $10. alliancetheatre.org

Don Quixote: Atlanta Ballet presents a classic ballet story at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre that blends exquisite dancing with an often humorous swashbuckling tale. Feb. 2 through 10. $20 to $129. atlantaballet.com

Adam Trent: Direct from Broadway, Adam Trent, the breakout star of the world’s best selling magic show “The Illusionists,” brings his signature brand of magic and illusion to this 90-minute spectacle at the Fox Theatre. Feb. 3. $28.50 to $48.50. foxtheatre.org

Romeo and Juliet: Atlanta Shakespeare Company celebrates the 18th anniversary of performing this play about young lovers, feuding families and one Friar with good intentions. Opens Feb. 3. $23 to $42. shakespearetavern.com

Lana Del Ray: See noir-pop star Lana Del Ray in concert at Philips Arena. Feb. 5. $39.50 to $125. philipsarena.com

Johnny Mercer Tribute: Hard-bop trumpeter and vocalist Joe Gransden and

RENT 20th Anniversary Tour: A reimagining of Puccini’s La Bohème, RENT, presented at the Fox Theatre, follows an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. Feb. 20 through 28. $30 to $145.50. foxtheatre.org

The Daughter of the Regiment: When she receives new information about her identity, Marie, a spirited and charming tomboy who was adopted and raised by a French army regiment, must decide whether to follow her place in society or follow her heart in The Atlanta Opera’s show presented at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Opens Feb. 24. $35 to $131. atlantaopera.org

Eva Yerbabuena Company: Famed for her speed, power, dramatic footwork and her expression of traditional flamenco forms through her own inimitable style, Eva Yerbabuena brings her show to Atlanta’s Rialto Center for the Arts. Feb. 24. $34.85 to $69. rialtocenter.org

Big Apple Circus: Visit Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park to see a full lineup of global artists and acts, including 10-time world record-holding high wire artist Nik Wallenda and fan favorite Grandma the Clown. Closes Feb. 25. $29 to $93. vzwamp.com

From the history of passports to smuggling fried chicken into other countries, this travel saga from the genius mind of Thaddeus Phillips is a miraculous sojourn that transports us to very real places: Hungary, Serbia, Morocco, Colombia, Holland, Mexico, and more.