New exhibit spotlights cultural infusion, identity and the lives of visually impaired individuals

The Wesleyan College Leadership Lab has opened an exhibit titled “Echoes of Resilience” that runs through Feb. 27. The show features Atlanta photographer Eley, who also serves as an adjunct photography professor at Wesleyan.

A reception is set for First Friday on Feb. 6 from 5-8 p.m. at the lab, located in downtown Macon at 522 Cherry St.. The reception also includes an artist talk by Eley at 6 p.m.

Entering the Leadership Lab gallery, it’s clear Eley is comfortable working on both grand and intimate scales to bring her artistic vision to life — a vision that includes using stereotypes to challenge stereotypes, creating mystery while documenting adventurous lives and employing unusual forms of photography and multimedia to enlighten viewers.

Artful as her work is, Eley doesn’t create art just for art’s sake; she purposefully explores topics and amplifies voices that are often overlooked.

“‘Echoes of Resilience’ is the compilation of three different bodies of work that focus on illuminating the presence and power of Black and Brown communities,” Eley said.

The three distinct but related groups of work, described by Eley, are:

— America’s Backbone: a reimagining of iconic national symbols — including the Statue of Liberty, Lady Justice and the idea of warrior-defense — through the bodies of Black women. The strikingly large-format series confronts historical omissions while honoring the foundational role Black women have played in shaping America and its identity.

— Afronauts: a photo documentary series following individuals who migrated to a largely homogenous country in search of broadened opportunity and a genuine sense of belonging. Through portraits, interviews and captured moments of daily life, the work reflects resilience within global migration, community-building and cultural infusion. 

“Resilience is not only survival — it’s a creative act,” Eley said. “Visibility is not just being seen; it’s being understood.”

— Invisible to Others: a mixed-media portrait series exploring the lived experiences of individuals with visual impairments. The work expands traditional ideas of perception by incorporating memory, sensation and nonvisual cues, inviting audiences to consider how visibility and connections are formed.

Eley’s exhibit is not the typical framed-photo-after-framed-photo presentation. She uses various forms — from textiles to timelines — to display her work and enhance each piece’s meaning, expressing her images in new ways.

This is particularly true in “Invisible to Others.”

“This work expands the space of the gallery beyond sight alone and invites touch, sound and light to become equal pathways to understanding,” she said.

The work is meant to encourage a better understanding of visually impaired persons and how they perceive and react to typical gallery settings, which often exclude them.

She said “Invisible to Others” is an attempt to “open the experience of photography to a broader range of perception. The work reflects on the fragility of sight and the intimacy of alternative ways of knowing. The desire for a tangible encounter — one that can be held, traced and felt — guides the creation of images meant to be experienced through more than the eye.

“‘Invisible to Others’ brings together portraits, blind-embossed prints, Braille and sound. Some images reveal themselves through luminosity; others require touch to emerge.”

The work is illuminating to audiences, as well as suggestive of new modes of gallery exhibition that are more inclusive of visually impaired communities.

Gallery officials said groups from the Georgia Academy for the Blind will be visiting the exhibit for tours, including with the artist, and other groups are welcome to contact the Leadership Lab for similar viewings. Email leadershiplab@wesleyancollege.edu.

Eley’s gallery projects run alongside her commercial photography work as the Atlanta-based Eley Photo LLC.

“I work in the commercial arts a lot, so I do magazine work, advertising and photo documentary projects and more,” she said. “A lot of my clients are in either the healthcare world, the documentary space or the entertainment space.”

Her interest in photography began when she was a child.

“I started as a portrait artist,” she said. “It’s been my passion since I was a kid. I was told then to go outside and people-watch if I was bored, so I found myself fascinated with people, their facial expressions and their unique identities. It just kind of spiraled over the years into me being a professional photographer.”

Though centered in Atlanta, her photography and special projects have taken her throughout the state and abroad. One such project brought her to Macon, where she shot a series called Boxing in Macon.

“I guess you could say I’m always chasing people and light and paying attention to what scenes are unfolding in front of me,” she said. “I like to get close and have the chance to actually meet individuals and understand what their trials, tribulations and triumphs are. I want my photos to tell a story about what’s going on with them specifically.”

Attending graduate school at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta location brought Eley to Georgia.

“When I got out of the program, I wondered, ‘Well, OK, what’s Atlanta like?’ I realized I didn’t know because I’d spent my time there within four walls working on my graduate thesis. It’s at that point that my documentary work started to surface as I got out onto the streets and into different subcultures and communities to take pictures and do portraits.”

To view Eley’s work, visit her website, eleyphoto.com.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him on Instagram at @michael_w_pannell.