By Martha Nodar

Hundreds of novice and professional photographers are gearing up for the 11th annual Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP) festival this month.

The festival, which is held every October, promotes photography art at museums, galleries and businesses all over Atlanta.

Julian Cox, the curator of photography for the High Museum, said the High has been participating in the ACP festival since 2005.

“ACP and the High have a common vision and aspiration for how photography may impact people’s lives,” Cox said.

Sandy Springs resident Margery Diamond has been participating in the ACP festival for several years. Her passion for photography took her literally “Inside Vietnam,” the name of her current collection. Her exhibit opens with a reception at the Co’m Dunwoody Restaurant Oct. 10, along with Jo Ann Goldenburg’s “Water Reflections,” both running through Nov. 15.

Sandy Springs artist Clara Blalock said she was impressed with Goldenburg’s “Green Wave,” a photo of Lake Kedron in Peachtree City. “I’m drawn to the mystery of this photograph because of the colors and sense of movement,” Blalock said.

Lauren Bernazza, senior arts program coordinator at the Abernathy Arts Center, said the Center will dedicate one wall of space to the ACP show for the first time.

“Members of the community will now be able to pin-up photographs in our gallery under the theme, My Fulton County,” Bernazza said of the event that opens with an Oct. 9 reception and runs through Oct. 30.

The Catherine Kelleghan Gallery, located in Buckhead, will display David Swann’s “A Brush with Photography: Surrealism Revisited.” Swann’s exhibit runs through Oct. 31.

While Swann, Diamond and Goldenburg prefer to work with digital images, others remain loyal to prints, such as photographers Bobi Dimond, Jane Kerr and Judy Kuniansky.

“The color is so much richer in prints…especially black and white,” Kerr said.

Recognizing the effect of black and white prints, Tony Casadonte, the director of the Lumière Gallery in Buckhead, has chosen to exhibit the late Dorothea Lange’s collection, “Dorothea Lange and Her Influence” through Nov. 14. Lange is known for her rendition of the “Migrant Mother,” the quintessential representation of the Great Depression.

Also in Buckhead, the Pace Academy Fine Arts Center featuring Martin Benjamin’s “Atomic Age” collection opened Oct. 1. The collection runs through Oct. 31.

France Dorman, a photography instructor at Pace Academy, said that when interpreting a photograph it is important to ask questions such as, “Are there deeper meanings involved?”

Those questions are critical for Atlanta native Jeannette Montgomery Barron’s collection, “My Mother’s Clothes.” Barron, a first-time ACP participant, photographed her mother’s clothing after losing her to health complications related to Alzheimer’s disease.

The Swan Coach House Gallery in Buckhead will host Barron’s exhibit until Nov. 7.

Also participating in this year’s festival are the Buckhead and the Sandy Springs Fulton County Public Libraries, the Art Institute of Atlanta in Sandy Springs, the Atlanta Artists Center in Buckhead and more. For additional information about the ACP festival, visit: www.acpinfo.org.