‘Les Fleurs’ bloom at Hartsfield-Jackson

Airport exhibit showcases photos with impressionist-painting feel

ATLANTA — Just in time for spring, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is in bloom. “The Les Fleurs Photographic Collection,” a colorful collection of flowers, by Georgia artist Barry Taratoot will be on display in the Airport Atrium through May 16.

“The pieces in this exhibit are stunningly surreal and focus the viewer’s eye on the exquisite detail in nature’s design,” said David Vogt, Airport Art Program manager. “The controlled arrangement and lighting of the flowers create a dynamic composition of textures, surfaces and color. The rich, black background serves to emphasize each flower’s unique contour and many intricacies.”

The exhibition defies the viewer to believe what he or she is seeing. The soft yet vivid colors of the plants set against solid-black backgrounds look much more like paintings than photos.

Taratoot selects floral subjects and then positions them amid soft light and shadows to enhance their natural surfaces, colors and patterns. The effect is created — “without trickery or modern technical manipulation,” the artist notes — through a combination of photographic and technical skills, patience and imagination.

For more information on the Airport’s art program, visit www.atlanta-airport.com/Passenger/Art%20Program/frmPassengerInformation_ArtProgram.aspx.

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Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Hartsfield-Jackson is the world’s busiest airport, serving more than 92 million passengers annually with nonstop service to 160 U.S. destinations and nearly 70 international destinations in more than 45 countries. The Airport is a frequent recipient of awards of excellence for concessions, operations, architectural engineering and construction - including the 2011 Global and North American Airport Efficiency Excellence Award from the Air Transport Research Society (for more information, go to www.atrsworld.org). It is undergoing $6 billion-plus in capital improvements, which include a new, energy-efficient rental car center; a new, 12-gate international terminal (for more information, go to www.atlanta-airport.com/internationalterminal/;and aesthetic and functional upgrades to its concourses, people movers and parking services. For more information, go to www.atlanta-airport.com. Check out the Airport’s YouTube channel by visiting http://www.youtube.com/AtlantaHartsfield, and become a fan on Facebook.