A new photo exhibit has opened in Paris, Kentucky. It showcases images captured at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It’s Friday afternoon in Paris, Kentucky at the Paris Photo Gallery on Main Street. USA Today photographer Jack Gruber and freelance photojournalist Michael Swenson are hanging images of athletes like gold medalist Simone Biles on a wall in a new exhibit showcasing moments from the 2024 Olympics.
“So we're going to do the whole back wall as Simone. And one giant image of her on the bars and then all these other images around it on the rest of the wall,” said Gruber.
The 58-year-old Gruber said all of these photos were taken at the 2024 Olympic Games by 21 photojournalists from around the world.
” These photographs are not going to show up on any other gallery wall in the world.You will not find these photographs printed in any art gallery in New York City or Washington D.C.. It’s only going to be here. These pictures do not get disseminated out into the general public," explained Gruber.
Gruber said he was in Paris, France during the 2024 Olympics, and taking these pictures was his assignment. He’s worked at USA Today for 24 years, shot his first Olympics in 2000 and this year, he says, was his 13th Olympics.
“I was very lucky this year. I did four or five days of gymnastics which turned out to be pretty historic. I did a lot of rugby. I did a lot of water polo. I got to cover some things that aren’t always covered, such as table tennis,” said Gruber.
This photo exhibition said Gruber is really the first significant show at the Paris Gallery he opened with two colleagues earlier this year.
“We really wanted to do this gallery for many reasons. It supports the community by bringing people into town. That’s great. That’s our main endeavor. It’s what we want to do, is to be here, do things that just aren’t happening anywhere else in the country but do it here in Paris Kentucky. And that’s what makes this unique,” said Gruber.
The exhibit includes 50 framed prints of iconic pictures from the 2024 Summer Olympics. Gruber says some of the photos he shot are in the exhibition but he asked his friends and colleagues if they’d be willing to be included in the Paris Photo Gallery as well. He said the newspapers and agencies involved are diverse.
“ There’s some local newpapers like the Indianapolis Star, the Arizona Republic, The Nashville Tennessean to USA Today to the Pasadena Star News. And the agencies that are involved, Associated Press, Reuters, Getty Images. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few. That’s kind of it. It’s a bunch of agencies you don’t normally know but you see the pictures in the newspapers and you see the pictures online,” said Gruber.
Co-owner of the Paris Gallery, Michael Swenson uses pieces of blue tape to mark where each exhibit photo belongs. Swenson says Gruber selects which photos to use and Swenson prepares the photos. He said there is an art to creating the display.
“You know a lot of the sequencing that we do happens through color, emotion, orientation of the actual photograph. So that’s some of the things that go into the decision process on how it’s oriented on the wall,” said Swenson.
Jack Gruber is based in Washington D.C. but spent a lot of time on his grandparent’s farm in Harrison County, Kentucky while he was growing up. His mother still lives in the county. He says he travels the world a lot for work but returns to Kentucky every chance he gets. He helped create the non-profit arts and journalism program known as Boyd’s Station. Proceeds from prints in the From Paris to Paris exhibition will benefit that Harrison County non-profit.
“The thing about this is, that all the money goes to Boyd’s Station. So it’s a donation going back for the Harrison County project. That’s where it brings Bourbon County and Harrison County together,” said Gruber.
The Paris, Kentucky tourism director, Betty Ann Allen stops in as Gruber and Swensen prepare the showcase.
“I mean you just look at those pictures and there’s pure joy in that one. And those guys right there are so happy they have won a gold medal. So, it’s the emotion that gets you. I mean, we’re excited that they came to Paris and opened the gallery, much less this. I watched the Olympics every night looking to see what was happening. And then to have this exhibit, Paris to Paris, also helps people learn about Paris, Kentucky,” said Allen.
The exhibit, From Paris to Paris opened earlier this month and runs through November 24th.
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