Brian Brown
Brian Brown is a documentary photographer and historian whose work has made an extraordinary contribution to historic preservation in Georgia through long-term documentation, public education, and advocacy. For more than two decades, he has photographed historic buildings and landscapes across all 159 counties, with a particular focus on endangered and often overlooked resources in rural communities. Through his ongoing project, Vanishing Georgia, Brown has created the largest publicly accessible independent photographic archive of the state’s historic built environment, featuring thousands of sites and tens of thousands of images paired with researched narratives. His work is widely used by preservation professionals, educators, and the public as a vital reference and advocacy tool. By documenting places that are threatened or lost, Brian’s photography serves as an enduring historical record and a powerful call to action. His generous support of the Georgia Trust and others, in sharing his photographs and research, has strengthened preservation outreach and storytelling, helping to elevate awareness of Georgia’s rich and vulnerable architectural heritage.
Preservation Service awards recognize persons, groups, businesses and/or government entities that demonstrate exemplary activities and promotion of awareness in the field of historic preservation.