Jovell Rennie: The Place I Call Home

On view April 22, 2022 — Feb. 19, 2023, Anchorage Museum Atrium

The Place I Call Home reflects the people, places, textures, and moods photographer Jovell Rennie associates with his hometown of Anchorage, Alaska. Born in Trinidad and raised mostly in Alaska, Rennie reveals varied facets of millennial life in Alaska’s largest urban center through his photographs: wild landscapes glimpsed through the window of a car, portraits of friends, snapshots of strip malls, parking lots and other overlooked corners of the city. The Place I Call Home is about friendship as a process of creative exchange, the freedom of wild spaces, and the sense of beauty that emerges from taking a closer look at our most intimate everyday surroundings.

Included within the exhibition is an edition of prints on t-shirts, as well as a display of disposable camera photos taken by Rennie’s friends and acquaintances. As an early adopter of Instagram, a street-wear fanatic, and a collector of analog cameras, Rennie has developed an aesthetic in formed by urban trends, the democratic appeal of social media, and the approachability of lo-fi camera technologies.

“I don’t think that there’s such a thing as the ‘perfect camera’ or that you need something fancy to make compelling images,” Rennie says of his love of analog cameras and the photographic process of discovery. “But I do understand the joy of using something that feels just right in your hands. Ultimately, the best camera to take photos with is whatever you have access too. The heart of an image comes from curiosity, not the equipment that was used to make it. Curiosity of your surroundings, of your community, and of yourself.”

This exhibition is a continuation of a series of programs titled Black Lives in Alaska: Journey, Justice, Joy and connects to the Rasmuson Foundation's project Black in Alaska.