Portraits' simplicity helps tell musicians' stories

The images are spare and simple, most often a single figure posed before an austere backdrop. There are no gimmicks, no gadgets, no digital trickery. Each shot is a single moment carefully captured, and each has a story.

Jim McGuire has been shooting portraits of Nashville musicians for more than 30 years. His subjects range from the very famous (Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe) to figures known almost exclusively within the insular Music City community. Mr. McGuire said his goal is always the same.

"The whole sense, the whole goal, is trying to capture something truthful about who these people are," he said during a recent telephone interview. "These are people who play music for a living. That's who they are. And once they relax, I think it comes through. It's the reason that, very often, the first thing I do is hand them an instrument."

An exhibition of Mr. McGuire's Nashville portraits opens Friday at the Morris Museum of Art.

Drawing inspiration from photographer Irving Penn, Mr. McGuire began shooting against a neutral background because he recognized a certain sense of humanity in Mr. Penn's pictures.

"So I can't take full credit for that," he said with a laugh. "The beauty of it is that not only does it force you to focus on the people, but it also gives the picture a certain sense of timelessness."

Over the years, Mr. McGuire has developed tricks and techniques he finds helpful in capturing not only an image, but a character also. Shooting musicians with instruments in hand is one, shooting them as they enter the studio is another.

He said one of the greatest gifts a photographer can posses is the ability to listen and experiment. He said a much-discussed portrait of Bill Monroe was taken when the bluegrass legend asked for a shot of him cradling his mandolin.

"There are things that happen that you just can't plan," he said. "Bill Monroe was one of those. That was a photo he asked for, an image he had obviously been carrying around with him. I couldn't have asked for anything better."

Although the Morris exhibition features more than 60 images, there is little repetition of subject. There are a couple shots of Steve Earle and John Hiatt, but for the most part, each artist is represented by one shot. Mr. McGuire said that because he has shot artists at different points in their careers, he would love to exhibit progressions of portraits.

"I've been lucky, because there is a sort of friendship that has developed," he said. "It's the reason they keep coming back to me, allow me to continue this."

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.