• About Us
    • Advertise
      • Sizes & Specs
    • Previous Issues
    • Submissions
    • Scene Team
      • Contact Us
  • Scene Lately
    • Downtown Scene
    • North Side Scene
    • South Side Scene
  • Calendar
    • #EventsToBeScene
    • Events We Are Excited About
    • Theatre Events
  • Subscribe
  • Reader Survey
  • Summer Camps 2023

Abilene Scene

Art, Culture & Happenings in Abilene, Texas!

  • Abilene Eats
    • Abilene Eats Out
    • Abilene Eats In
  • Artfully Abilene
    • Center for Contemporary Art
    • The Grace
    • NCCIL
    • Paramount
    • Philharmonic
  • Featured Stories
    • Culture
    • Fake Your Way
    • Health
    • Travel
    • Business
  • People
    • Abilene Influencers
    • Abilene Influencer Nomination
    • Day in the Life
    • Everyday Heroes
  • Homes
    • Abilene Open Houses
    • A Look Inside
    • Lawn & Garden
    • DIY
  • New On The Scene
  • Printables
  • Shopping
You are here: Home / Artfully Abilene / The Grace / Terry Cockerham’s Photos Capture Big Bend’s ‘Desolate Beauty’

Terry Cockerham’s Photos Capture Big Bend’s ‘Desolate Beauty’

January 27, 2023 Leave a Comment

Artists don’t always begin as artists. Sometimes successful professional artists start their careers with an entirely different focus before finding their creative path. This has been true for Terry Cockerham, a Texas photographer who came out of college with a science degree and joined the army.

“When I finished my undergraduate degree in science in December 1971, I was immediately on my way to my first job as a second lieutenant in a 155SP artillery battalion in Europe. The good news was that I had a job in something I could relate to, in that artillery is all about mathematics, and that I would get to travel all over Eu-rope, something this Texas boy had not yet managed to do. Since I was going to visit countries I had never been to before, I decided it would be smart to buy a camera.”

Terry’s first camera was a Nikon equipped with a 28mm lens. “To be honest, I didn’t have a clue how to use it and, like so many people, I didn’t bother to read the manual… After taking hundreds, if not thousands, of really awful photographs, I decided it was time to figure out how to make the best use of this device.”

Terry began reading everything he could about the art of photography. He also utilized the base’s photography lab and learned how to process his own film. After resigning his military commission in 1975, he describes doing two things which re-aimed his life toward art: “First, I got a job at a major film processing plant so that my film would be processed for free. The second thing I did was to go back to my alma mater and sign up for the arts program. I took drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and art history classes.”

In 1978, Terry moved to Irving, Texas, where he launched his career as a commercial photographer, and later a photojournalist, photography teacher, and freelance photographer. His affinity for traveling and his studies of well-known photographers like Ansel Adams, Eugene Smith and Minor White, ultimately led him to focus his career in the places he loves most.“

The Big Bend Project began during my first visit to the area in 2002 and has grown as a result of many annual, and sometimes biannual, return trips. The Big Bend area appeals to me on a very basic and instinctual level and offers a much-needed break from life in the city. I admire the honesty and resilience of the people and the stark, desolate beauty of the land.”

Visitors to The Grace Museum can share in the artist’s love of this area through his current solo exhibition, Terry Cockerham: Big Bend, featuring 21 black-and-white photographs from his travels which highlight the landscape’s distinctive features created by climatic and geologic changes. On Jan. 19 at 6 p.m., the public can also attend a free Artist Talk at the museum where Terry will speak in-person about his work in the context of his travels.

Terry Cockerham has generously gifted 46 original photographs to The Grace Museum’s permanent collection, many of which are included in the current show (on view through February 4). “I offer these images as a tribute to the nobility and majesty of this unique place.”

 

Contributed By The Grace Museum

Filed Under: Artfully Abilene, The Grace Tagged With: Artfully Abilene, The Grace Museum

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign Up for Scene Now!

Subscribe: Newsletter | Magazine

March/April 2023

Abilene Influencers

Read the full issue of Abilene Scene online by clicking the cover image above.

Connect with us online.

Facebook spacer Twitter spacer Instagram spacer Pinterest

Recent Posts

Lasso Lounge: A Rental Remodel

History Exhibit Sheds New Light on Life on the Butterfield Mail Route

Off Your Beaten Path – Far Southside

Philharmonic Presents Animal-Themed Zoo Concert

Falling with Style: Professor Stays Fit with Skydiving

Abilene Scene

3457 Curry Lane
Abilene, TX 79606
325.673.4822
abilenescene@zacpubs.com

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy

Cookie Policy

Categories

© 2023 · Zachry Publications