“At Table” (2005-ongoing)
Glenna’s statement and bio:
Place and Space are consistent themes in my work, which ranges from documentary and constructed photography to socially-engaged art, curating and writing. Whether documenting interactions along the U.S-Mexico border or transformations within my own backyard, I strive to create or enter spaces where History intermingles with Memory. This work often involves intense periods of travel and public intervention followed by reflective research and production.
This process has certainly informed At Table (2005-ongoing), a long-term project that documents everyday spaces of expression and connection – dining rooms, kitchens, restaurants, and bars in locations scattered throughout the globe. In the USA, Mexico, Canada, China, Europe and beyond, I use my lens to navigate from a perspective that is local in depth but global in breadth. I have collected thousands of moments that capture friends, family and erstwhile strangers sharing time around food, drink and shared happenings at which I am also an active participant. My “tablescapes” offer subtle moments of drama and humor in which gestures, expressions and objects combine to perform as cultural artifacts and personal memories. I see the table as a space that can often transcend cultural barriers to become a place for authentic expression and interaction. For an only child, these photographs have come to represent an extended family that defies traditional definition. Ultimately, this series aims to connect, rather than solely critique, aspects of the human condition that collide and converge in a familiar, everyday place that holds an oft-untapped potential for social transformation – the table.
Glenna Jennings is an Associate Professor of Photography at the University of Dayton, Ohio. She completed her MFA in Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego and holds BAs in English and Spanish (Pepperdine) and a BFA in Photography (Art Center College of Design). Jennings has exhibited throughout the US, Mexico, Europe, and China. Recognition of her work includes several Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards and a Robert Rauschenberg Award through Photolucida Critical Mass 2019. Her work resides within the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, AMNUA Museum China, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, and multiple private collections. She is actively involved in food justice issues and was recently recognized with the Educator Food Champion award at the 2019 Montgomery County Food Summit for her work with Desert Kitchen Collective. Jennings is a passionate educator whose teaching, research and service inform her dynamic art practice.
At Table was recently published by Blue Sky Gallery and is available through MagCloud.
More of Glenna’s work can be seen on her website: www.glennajennings.com
Kent Krugh is a fine art photographer living in Cincinnati. kentkrugh.com
