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Jackson Markovic

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My Light in A Dark Place

Cheshire Bridge is burning. 2021 saw multiple destructive fires in Atlanta’s famous red
light district. The blame for these fires has been assigned to an enigmatic “arsonist,”
seen only in the doorbell cameras of the surrounding neighborhoods. Blurry and
pixelated, these images represent the curious relationship between Cheshire Bridge
and the adjacent neighborhoods of Morningside and Lindbergh. The common
language used by affluent residents is to “clean up” the street, including a still active
campaign which eventually reached city council vote in 2013 (it did not pass). But who
is doing the cleaning, and who gets to decide what stays and what goes? The common
denominator seems to be zoning laws and other ordinances, but again we must ask
ourselves how these came to be.

For over a year, I have been creating a long-term project on Atlanta's Cheshire Bridge
Road. “My Light in A Dark Place” is a project recording the street amidst the fire. My
documents from the street, primarily in the form of photographs, challenge the notion
to “clean up” the area.

The project began with simple observation, noticing small assemblages and acts of
meaning within a landscape that felt neglected. One such intervention was a bouquet
of fake flowers, regularly changed, tied to the tree outside a Waffle House. I would later
learn that Christine, a mourning mother, placed them in memory of her son Pierre.
Tragedy is palpable on the street, but it is not without its (complicated) joy. Juan, one of
the street's past residents, built elaborate assemblages from thrift store dumpsters,
seemingly appearing overnight. Thursday nights at the club Tokyo Valentino are
dedicated to transgender women; they are the performers, uplifted literally on stages.
This work is dedicated to Hyun Jung Grant, Soon Chun Park, Suncha Kim, and Yong
Ae Yue,
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