Artist portrays Savannah architecture, landscapes through photography

Local photographer Margaret Brennan will showcase her work at the Jewish Educational Alliance (JEA) art gallery on Sunday, March 7. “Margaret Brennan: A Savannah Retrospective” will include photographs of her well known floral portraits, award-winning landscapes and architecture. It will also debut a series of photographs taken in France in 2009.

“I’ve always loved flowers. At one point, I started taking photographs of flowers. I joined a photography club and was able to get juried into the exhibit. It was my flowers that got me going. I was always very inspired by Georgia O’Keefe because she was a painter of flowers,” Brennan said. “When I got to Savannah, when I saw the gardens and the architecture and how compelling and beautiful they were, I began to branch out. Being older, I’m just eager to try everything.”

Brennan moved to Savannah in 2002, and the Georgia coast has been a source of major inspiration for her creativity.

“Back in New York, after I retired, I went to the International Center of Photography in Manhattan,” Brennan said, shedding light on her history with photography. “When I got here, I started to use the knowledge I had learned there with Photoshop and other techniques. I do my own print work. I went out and did my own infrared film, and now I do infrared back and white with the digital camera.”

According to Vicky Lunick, art gallery coordinator at the JEA, Brennan changed the name and theme of her upcoming exhibit.

“A couple weeks ago she called and told me she completely changed the theme from ‘Thank You, Georgia O’Keefe’ to the ‘Margaret Brennan: A Savannah Retrospective’ exhibit,” Lunick said.

When asked about the change in her theme and title, Brennan said, “I just had a flower exhibit at Cutter’s Point coffee shop, and it dawned on me that this show is not just a repeat of the flowers. It’s the flowers plus all the landscapes and architecture. The flowers will be in the show but that’s only a small part of it. There will be 60 to 70 pieces.”

Brennan’s artwork has also been displayed at various clubs in The Landings, a private community on Skidaway Island.

“Gardening and floral arrangement have been my passions for years, and her photographs brightened my day,” said Landings member Carolyn Brooks.

Brennan’s award-winning work has been exhibited in New York, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and Savannah.

“I’ve always enjoyed photographing, but it is fun to be able to print your own work. It’s a challenge. When you do something and see it on the computer, it’s not what necessarily what you get when you print it out. I spend a lot of time doing this,” Brennan said. “I was a golfer and I stopped playing golf because I’d get frustrated seeing all the beautiful flowers when I was on the golf course and I’d want to take pictures of them and I wouldn’t be able to. Finally, I said, it’s one or the other. So I chose photography.”

“Margaret Brennan: A Savannah Retrospective” began March 1 at the JEA on 5111 Abercorn St. Brennan’s works will be displayed in the JEA gallery until March 29. There will be a reception on March 7 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.