The Mysterious Photography of Marty Mannington

Christopher Lusher of Hillbilly Magazine sent over a link to a fascinating project – a collection of photographs he found in the garbage by a mysterious photographer named Marty Mannington – all beautifully scanned and presented on a tumblr platform giving a unique, albeit posthumous, narrative to a life that would otherwise remain anonymous. Lusher: "This is a collection of photos I found in my garbage one day in a large, baby blue suitcase. The only thing held within was photo album after photo album. A narrative ran through all of the photos from various stages of Mrs. Manningtons life. The final and most recent photos show an ill Mrs. Mannington in her hospital bed and thats where the narrative ends. I am presenting these photos here as a platform for someone who clearly enjoyed photography and am offering a chance for the passed to speak. They are presented without titles or information as to give the viewer more of a dynamic, spontaneous and perhaps haunting experience. Music is added to enrich the feeling and mood of the photos." Visit Marty Mannington's strange world.

Hunky Dory

"Strange fascination, fascinating me," quoth David Bowie in his song Changes on the album Hunky Dory. Artist, photographer, online magazine editor, and purveyor of arts and culture Christopher Lusher, based in Huntington, West Virginia, is the progenitor of somewhat of an art scene in one of the oldest states and most forgotten states in America. Like the revolutionary abolitionist John Brown, a West Virginian who murdered slave owners and was ultimately hanged for treason, Lusher carries the same rough-hewn spirit of good old fashion men famous by the annals of American history who know the the true nature of freedom and liberty, and certain inalienable rights. Responsible for bringing Harmony Korine's film Trash Humpers to the 2010 Appalachian Film Festival, contributing to Purple Fashion Magazine's Purple Diary, and editing his own online publication Hillbilly Magazine, Lusher proves it is the power of the innate, inexorable, and mysterious spirit of creation that art can be born in any corner of any part of the world. On October 21 Christopher Lusher's solo art exhibition, entitled  Hunk Dory, will open at the Blank Gallery in West Virginia.

Text by Oliver Maxwell Kupper for Pas Un Autre