Fonville Returns

Opening on May 17, a new exhibit showcasing the life work of Louisiana’s favorite photographer and all-around gad-about, Theodore de Fonville Winans, will be a homecoming of sorts. According to James Turner, the husband of Winans’ daughter, Meriget, Fonville's first exhibit showing the iconic Louisiana images for which he became a household name, took place at the Old State Capitol in the late 1960s. This new exhibit sets out to celebrate that early work, but also to paint a broader portrait of the man who held the camera, whose pictures captured the ephemeral peculiarity of a Louisiana way of life that seems increasingly precious in our modern world.

“We hope to present the most comprehensive exhibit of his life work,” explained James Turner in an email. “The exhibit will search his work from as early as 1929 in Louisiana, to just a few years before his death in 1992.  It is a journey in time, with a personality and an era, now gone.  By way of our "Daring Valentino" we hope to inform the uninitiated about a Louisiana treasure.  And, to spark the memory and appreciation of those who know, or knew, Fonville.”

The Turners, working with Winans’ sons Bobby and Walker, are collaborating with the OSC’s Nancy Chesson to present a comprehensive, entertaining show that presents some seventy-five works. Many are those instantly recognizable original prints, but there is more. “We are collecting examples of his work from all surviving family members—key, personal friends and the resources that Nancy and the OSC bring to the mix,” wrote Turner. “For example, Fonville's life-mate, Helen (Collins) Winans was an unsung hero, an artist in her own right, and we will have dozens of her hand-painted oils on Fonville's sepia prints. Our goal is to highlight the history and breadth of Fonville's work, and the relationship it has to a presentation of our own history in those years. “

Nancy Chesson explained that the show also sets out to offer less well-known images that provide different glimpses of the man and his relationship with the Baton Rouge community. “What we wanted to do was not just put on a photographic exhibit. We wanted to tell the story of the man,” she explained. “I’ve gotten wedding pictures from ladies whose weddings he photographed,” said Chesson. “He did Virginia Noland’s wedding. He did Laura Holloway Field’s. I spoke to Cyril Vetter, who owns all Fonville’s political pictures, because Fonville photographed all the governors except Roemer and Treen. “

Alongside the largest collection of Fonville photographs ever gathered, the exhibit also promises darkroom equipment, cameras, tripods, desks, lighting, studio paraphernalia and ephemera, and letters. Come to the exhibit opening on Saturday, May 17 and there’ll also be live music and of course, an open bar featuring Fonville’s beloved bourbon-old fashioneds. 5:30 pm–8:30 pm at 100 North Boulevard. (225) 342-0500 or louisianaoldstatecapitol.org