Oraien Catledge
Oraien Catledge (1928–2015) was a self-taught, visually-impaired photographer. Born in Mississippi, Catledge relocated to Georgia's capital for a job at the American Foundation for the Blind, but, at the age of 51, discovered the irresistible lure of a Leica camera. He used his newfound passion to document the daily goings-on of Cabbagetown, a mill town in the heart of Atlanta. The black-and-white images he made over the span of nearly two decades depict quotidian scenes of a working-class neighborhood and the folks who inhabited it.
Of Catledge, the late Mary Ellen Mark noted that, "[he] surely loves what he does and loves the people he photographs. He sees all humanity in his own clear, honest, and beautiful way."