Savannah, 2026
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Cicero
Last week, on February 23, the City of Savannah renamed the Visual Arts Studio 1 in the Dr. Otis S. Johnson Cultural Arts Center as the Bill Durrence Visual Arts Studio. It was an unexpected honor, for which I am deeply appreciative.
When I started working on this week’s post Barbara said don’t just document the event, say what you are feeling. Gratitude, certainly, but awkward as well, and I hope that does not seem to diminish my appreciation. I know a number of people whose contributions to this city deserve this sort of recognition, and being singled out is sobering for an inveterate skeptic. Never in my fairly long life did I imagine something being named after me. I am, by inclination and training, a watcher, a voyeur if you will. To be subject instead of observer is…Je ne sais quoi.
My understanding is this dedication was based on a combination of factors.
I am a native Savannahian. I became a staff photographer on our two daily newspapers in 1966, at the age of 18, where I routinely made many photographs, every day, from tragedy to sports to “society page” debutantes. At the time I had no idea of the education I was getting, but making pictures became a habit, and I’ve never stopped. I did not set out to create an archive, but the years rolled by, I got old, and all those negatives and slides and digital files became a collection.
For several years now I’ve been looking for a home for all those photographs after I’m gone, and I found it in the City of Savannah Archives, a historical collection that dates to the 1700s. I have gifted them my entire photo archive from over 60 years of shooting, and this recognition is a result of that, and having served on City Council for four years.
I want to thank Mayor Van Johnson, 2nd District Alderman (my old job) Detric Leggett, and City Manager Jay Melder for their support and kind words at the dedication. A special thank you goes to the City’s Archivist Luciana Spracher, who has gently led me through the trauma of moving all my slides and negatives out of my office and into hers, and created an approach to organizing and managing the files even though it is still a living archive, being grown and changed until I am no longer able do that.
I wish she had been my editor at some of the publications where I’ve worked after seeing how she laid out several promotional pieces for this event, including the above collage that hangs outside the studio and represents a cross section of the variety of work I’ve done over the years.
What I am most grateful for is knowing all those years of work are now protected and in the hands of someone who will take at least as good a care of them as I tried to do.
Meister Eckkhart, a 14th Century German Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher and mystic said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘Thank You,’ it will be enough.” The English poet John Donne said, “No man is an island.”
To all the shoulders I’ve stood on, to all those who have shared their visage with my camera, to the family, friends, partners, lovers, colleagues, students, teachers, mentors, and strangers whose lives have touched my life, for the gifts you’ve given me and the ideas and insights I’ve stolen from you…
To Barbara, my love, my partner for over 40 years, wise counselor, ruthless editor, generous patron, unwavering cheerleader, the person who took me on my first international trip, showed me how to travel, and gave me the world…
Thank you.
For more of Bill’s photographs, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index