In Focus: Consumption
“In Focus” installed in Gallery A at The Supermarket from Wednesday, April 15th to Sunday, April 19th, 2026
The Bakery Atlanta was excited to present our third annual photography show, In Focus. This exhibition featured photography and other lens-based work exploring themes of Consumption. The exhibit was on view from Wednesday, April 15th to Sunday, April 19th, 2026. With a closing reception held on Sunday, April 19th, 2026.
Featured Artists
Olivia Begalla & Elijah Zulu, Joseph Brockwell, Jess Cappa, Cindy Elizabeth, Caitlyn Gold
Nia Alani, Kaitlyn Victoria Harmon, Daniel Enriques Martinez, Suraj Patel, Blake Pipes, Skylar Rains, Genesis Tillman, Curtis Todd, ArtyMcFly, Kennedy Wright, and Leah Zarzour
These lens-based artists were asked to interpret the act of consumption: the act of purchasing, utilizing, and consuming goods, services, and energy by households, businesses, or governments, and to represent the final use of products in economics, aimed at satisfying needs and wants.
We asked them to consider: How does this never-ending consumption impact our own perspectives? How do we battle this endless need to consume? How do we operate in spaces as consumers? How do we determine whether we are the consumers or the ones being consumed?
Amongst our featured artists, Caitlyn Gold’s collection of black-and-white landscapes (see above) truly encapsulated the show's theme. Gold states:
"The ground does not give way all at once. Across generations, industrial expansion reshapes both land and livelihoods in a familiar pattern: farmland disappears, housing developments materialize, factories rise and fall, and communities are left uncertain. What is built in the name of progress often destabilizes the very ground it stands on, economically, environmentally, and socially.
My hometown in Pennsylvania has long been shaped by capitalistic expansion, from coal mines long ago to modern nuclear power plants. Years ago, I moved south to McDonough, Georgia and recognized this pattern take hold there. In both places, growth promises stability while quietly eroding it.
Despite these shifts, a deep pride in place remains. American flags hang from porches, yards are carefully tended, and the identity of these towns is carried by the people who continue to call them home. The landscapes may change, but the attachment to them persists.
This series documents these towns at the moment where the ground begins to give way: where land is altered beyond recognition and the people who inhabit it must deal with the consequences. The work considers not only what is built, but what is destabilized in the process."
The show also included an immersive photo/audio installation by Olivia Begalla & Elijah T. Zulu
The artists stated:
“A single plastic bag is used for an average of 12 minutes–yet its presence in the environment lasts centuries. Thank you, Have a Nice Day is an interactive, multisensory installation that invites the viewer to reflect on the physical and sonic weight of disposable waste. The work centers on a photographic diptych that captures the visual intrusion of synthetic materials within the organic landscape.
The accompanying audio is exactly 12 minutes in length and plays on a continuous loop, mirroring the plastic bag’s brief period of utility while forcing a meditation on its infinite persistence. By juxtaposing the synthetic rustle of plastic with the organic rhythms of the natural world, the installation challenges the viewer to confront the enduring space that trash occupies long after its functional purpose has ended.”
In these works, the artists particularly captured the intrusion of consumption into the land. Whether reshaping it for a capitalistic venture or simply leaving inorganic materials behind, evidence of man’s presence and impact felt like a driving force to the work.
While curating the show, we considered which pieces depicted people and which depicted only their evidence. How could the messaging of consumption be expressed compositionally in both subtle and overt contexts? In response, our seventeen featured artists successfully presented many avenues for this narrative to evolve.
The show’s closing reception took place on Sunday, April 19th, from 12 pm to 4 pm, with a great turnout. Artists, friends, and patrons gathered in the gallery and were then welcomed into the show’s cycle of consumption by viewing the art or partaking in the food and refreshments provided.
The origins of The Bakery’s annual photography show were to give these creatives a dedicated space to showcase their work. This year was no different; however, with a theme like Consumption, it presented more niche subject matter that particularly spoke to the artists in this show.