November 2013
Buford Highway
In January 2013, I met Bert Hunecke for lunch at Ming’s Bar BQ, a small, nondescript restaurant in a strip mall on Buford Highway in northeast Atlanta. For two hours or so we had an incredible meal of Peking duck and Chinese broccoli and talked about many things, including our love of food, particularly ethnic and international food.
By the end of the meal we had agreed: Bert would commission me to produce photographs along the miles of Buford Highway that contain some of the best and least pretentious culinary experiences that Atlanta has to offer. It was a no-lose situation for both of us. Bert would purchase prints of only those images he liked, with no commitment if he wasn’t happy with the results. And I would be given the impetus to start on a project that I was very interested in. It was perfect.
Since then I’ve gone to Buford Highway dozens of times to shoot inside and outside Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Pakistani, Ethiopian, Mexican, Honduran, Cuban and many other stores and restaurants. I go early in the morning, at night, and at noon. I go to shoot, to eat, and to drop off prints. I love the people, the food, and the quirky architecture, and I expect I’ll be working on this for some time. An exhibition and/or book are possibilities in the future, but in the meantime I’m showing them on my blog, http://forestmcmullin.blogspot.com/. So much food, so little time. . .
Biography
Forest McMullin is a photographer, educator, and consultant to the photographic industry. For over twenty-five years, in addition to editorial stories, he has specialized in photographing fringe social groups and is respected for his ability to bring out their dignity while still showing them with directness and honesty. He works and exhibits regionally, nationally, and internationally. He regularly conducts workshops and lectures across the United States for a variety of photographic manufacturers. He’s currently a Professor of Photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, Georgia.
