By Claire O'Neill

"The first five minutes of any run always feels like a bad idea," said occasional NPR contributor Greg Miller over the phone. "Same thing with photographing." He was explaining the self-doubt that crept up on him during the first few weeks of his Guggenheim Fellowship, which he had chosen to spend not in a distinguished European city or dangerous developing country but in Nashville, Tenn.

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It was a bold move to devote this coveted fellowship to a place so seemingly prosaic and borderline kitschy (I'm allowed to say that; it's my hometown). But it's Miller's hometown, too, and he had his work cut out for him. In the past, Miller explained, he'd been daunted by the prospect of photographing something so familiar. But after several years away from home, he decided it was time to go back and explore.

When asked what he was looking for, he said, "It's a memory, in a way." In the series Nashville, you won't see any photos of honky-tonk bars or country stars. Rather, there's a typical suburban street, a couple gone fishin', his grandmother's house after a storm. The series, which is currently on display at the Cheekwood museum's Temporary Contemporary gallery in Nashville, feels like a dreamlike, somewhat melancholy walk down memory lane.

What is it about this place, and these photos, that is distinct from the rest of Miller's work? "It's a feeling I've been depriving myself of," he said after deliberating. "It's a feeling of belonging." Like many photographers, Miller moved to the Big Apple without looking back. Now he's finally looking back and exploring the idea of "home."

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categories: Daily Picture Show

10:20 - October 28, 2009

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