Michael Boatright’s ‘Dark Houses Atlanta’ Showcases Local Venues That Were Forced To Close
Michael Boatright photographed several venues around Atlanta while they’ve been unoccupied due to COVID-19. This is the Alliance Theatre.
Michael Boatright / Dark Houses Atlanta project
Photographer Michael Boatright has a passion for music, dance and theater. He’s using his own art to raise awareness about the crisis facing live performances, venues and theaters during the pandemic.
Boatright joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom to talk about his new project, “Dark Houses Atlanta.”
The project highlights theaters and venues in the metro Atlanta area that have gone dark due to the COVID-19 crisis. He was approached by Dramatech artistic director Melissa Foulger to pursue this series. He is an alumnus of Georgia Tech and works with the students at the theater.
The goal of the project was to shoot theaters and concert halls as they stand now — empty and left as they were when everyone went into quarantine.
“Here’s a very important part of our culture, which people have kind of forgotten because we’ve been so focused on the impact on our personal lives of the COVID crisis,” Boatright said.
By bringing awareness to the economic impact on these venues, Boatright hopes this will bring viewers to want to give financially or physically.
“I hope people will remember what they’re missing. This is an important part of our culture, and we’re in a moment in our history where we kind of pushed that culture to the side,” Boatright said.
Not only are the venues losing money, but so are those who are employed by these places.
He hopes the community will come together and support these places by either purchasing memberships, buying tickets online (for virtual shows), making donations or sharing these photographs.
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