Performance & Motion
Spartanburg Photographer to Exhibit at West Main Co-op
During March and April, photography artist Thomas Koenig will exhibit at West Main Artists Co-op in Spartanburg multi-exposure and motion-blur photographs of performing musicians and actors. “Performance & Motion” will open with a public reception on Thursday, March 15, as part of the city’s monthly ArtWalk. The exhibit will be open for free public viewing Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The exhibit’s last viewing date is Saturday, April 14.
The exhibit will explore multi-exposure and motion-blur photography taken during live performances. Multiple-exposure photography is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image. Motion-blur photography is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image and results in the image showing changes during the recording of a single exposure, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.
Koenig has been a photographer and journalist in the Spartanburg art and music scene for nearly 20 years. Some of the pictures he chose for this show are not only representations of multi-exposure and motion-blur photography, they are also a view into Spartanburg’s performances scene of the past 20 years and the changes in imaging technology.
Koenig is the creative lead at AGE K Media LLC, a Spartanburg-based communications agency that specializes in corporate design and identity, brand building, corporate literature, marketing communications, media planning, web design, trade show design and planning, and public relations. “I have been a graphics communications professional and communication designer for all of my adult life and have worked for more than 25 years on two different continents and in two different languages. I have worked in all aspects of graphics communication, photography, design and creative concept. In addition to my professional work, I have chosen photography as my artistic outlet with several exhibits in South Carolina. Art, photography, and graphics communication for me are not only a profession, they are personal, from changes in technique and technology to changes in communication itself.”
Koenig was born in North Carolina, as the second son to Sibylla and Peter Koenig, but has spent the bigger part of his life with his family in Germany. He holds a degree in prepress production from a traditional German apprenticeship program and a diploma from the University of Applied Science Wiesbaden, Germany in communication design and photography. In addition, Koenig has done research in semiotics and practical semiotic applications at the University of South Carolina Graduate School as part of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He has lived in Spartanburg since 1997.
In 2009, Koenig had a solo art show at Spartanburg Art Museum and has since been in several group shows in the US and Germany. “I would be a very happy camper If I could spent my entire professional live behind the camera. But there is still another passion, graphic design and anything that relates to the media. Semiotics are cool,” he said. “I became a member of the West Main Artist Co-op to explore creative collaborations and to go back to my craftsmen roots in print.”
As an all-volunteer and nonprofit arts agency, West Main Artists Co-op is located at 567 W. Main Street Spartanburg, SC. For more information about the Co-op or “Performance & Motion,” please visit online WestMainArtists.com.