If you have ever been to any Black art exhibit, jazz concert or community event in Atlanta, there’s a chance you walked past a short woman with curly gray hair snapping photos.
Her name is Susan Ross and for the past five decades, she has told the story of Black Atlanta through her thousands of images of politicians, artists, literary giants, community leaders, musicians and just plain people.
Most people know her simply as Sue. She isn’t a member of the media and although she worked for the City of Atlanta for almost 40 years, mostly in minority and female business development, photographer was never one of her official titles.
She calls herself the multi-hyphenated: “participant observer - documentary photographer -cultural activist,” just working in the city she refers to as “Magical Atlanta.”
Before my big move from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Atlanta in 2014, I searched online for Black photographers in the city. Although I had a couple of contacts, I was ultimately starting fresh and wanted to make more connections.
I came across the website of Susan J. Ross the Photo Griot. I was mesmerized by her extensive archive and decided to send her an email.
She never returned the email, but I guess the photo gods had better plans for me. A few months later, I saw her at a photo exhibition and introduced myself.
“Hi, my name is Natrice. I’m a photographer and I just moved here. I saw your work online and wanted to introduce myself.”
“Hey!” she responded with a friendly smile.
I don’t remember what she said about the email, but I do remember her saying: “You should come to a Sistagraphy meeting!”
Full article AJC: Atlanta photographer Susan Ross is one of Atlanta’s most enduring d...
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