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The eyes of the boy are wide open as he looks at the young man in front of him. The boy was an Atlanta Falcons football fan. The young man, A.J. Terrell, Jr., is one of the starting cornerbacks for the Falcons, an Atlanta native, and one of the team’s best and most popular players. That interaction, along with others between fans and the teams and players they support, shines through in the photography of Sheila Pree Bright and in the new exhibition, “Footwork: Where We Gather.”
The exhibition is located in the Michael C. Carlos Museum and will be there through July 19.
Bright calls the collection of work, “capturing a moment” of Atlanta sports, the atmosphere around the professional football, basketball, and soccer that takes place in this city, and the people who make it possible.
“I didn’t want to focus on the players. I wanted to focus on the people,” said Bright, who added that the city is known for its music, Civil Rights legacy, but also its sports.
“Footwork: Where We Gather” will allow many of the soccer fans visiting the city for FIFA World Cup 2026 to get a look at the city’s basketball, futbol, and football fans. The collection includes photography from Atlanta Falcons tailgates, fan gatherings outside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, minutes before Atlanta United matches, and at the Swag Shop inside State Farm Arena. The latter was taken before the Atlanta Hawks hosted the Philadelphia 76ers, and while a man was getting a haircut.
The moment was a uniquely Atlanta sports moment. “That’s what I am looking for as an artist. I want people to feel,” Bright explained. “This is really about the people.”
There are photos of a pair of Black Falcons fans who famously dress up before every home game and a group of young Hispanic kids during an Atlanta United match. Some of them are holding Mexican National Team jerseys in hopes of getting them autographed. The girl in the center of the photo has her eyes fixed on something or someone.
The exhibition was curated by Andi McKenzie, the museum’s Associate Curator of Works on Paper. Asked what her favorite photo is, she pointed to the photo of Terrell and that young fan.
“It was the first one I saw when she sent them from Flowery Branch,” McKenzie said. “It has been a joy to work with Sheila.”
Bright said the best part of the exhibition has been the challenge. She has never been a sports fan, but after spending time capturing images at live sporting events in loud stadiums, she is becoming one. “I didn’t particularly care about sports, but I do now,” she said.
The familiar sight of a white “Rise Up” flag dominated the left corner of one photo. Another shows a man smoking a cigar, with clouds of smoke filling the frame. Still another shows a Black woman in a Falcons cowboy hat dancing. Her eyes are hidden by the brim of her hat. The story is being told by her arms in the air and by the snap-like motion of her hands.
Bright spent part of her youth in Germany. Her father was in the United States military, and she remembers how it felt to be a part of a Black family living in Germany. She recalled people reaching out to touch her skin or her hair. She hadn’t returned to the country as an adult, until she took photographs during the Falcons game against the Indianapolis Colts on November 9, 2025.
“It brought back childhood memories,” she said. A photo from that game, a 31-25 Falcons loss, is in the exhibition. In it, there are adults and children, people cheering, and others looking astonished at whatever they were seeing. Bright was focused on the people. That’s what she wanted for “Footwork: Where We Gather.”
“I’m passionate about people. I always had curiosity about different cultures,” Bright said. “I always want to know about the why in people.”
When one enters the exhibit on the second floor of the museum, one will be greeted by Greek statues. Bright believes it is appropriate, given the battles that take place on sporting fields, pitches, and courts around the city.
“I was thinking about the World Cup coming to Atlanta when I saw them,” Bright, a Leica Camera ambassador, said, smiling as she posed for a photo for this story. She was standing below a photo of an Atlanta United supporter flashing a bright smile, wearing sunglasses, and holding his fingers in that time-honored A-Town down style. Behind him was another supporter holding a scarf that read, “Black history is Atlanta history.”
“That’s what this exhibition is about. It’s about decisive moments,” she said.
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