Tate, Georgia

About the Photographer

McWilliams, John

American, b. 1941

John McWilliams was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, but moved to Georgia in 1969 to accept a teaching position at Georgia State University's School of Art and Design. Since that time he has made an extensive body of photographic work devoted to conveying the atmosphere of the American South and the history of land use in the region. Many of his photographs examine the dynamic between architecture and vegetation in the landscape, with particular attention given to places that are in a state of change or which thave been thoroughly transformed by man. Photographing from his native Georgia to states as far away as Alabama, McWilliams typically depicts the landscape without any of its inhabitants, although in certain instances, such as the photograph Tate, Georgia (1974), he focuses on people within the natural environment. McWilliams received a BFA (1965) and an MFA (1967) from the Rhode Island School of Design. McWilliams continues to teach at Georgia State University and is the program's Director Emeritus. Since the 1990s he has expanded his practice to include printmaking and book arts.