By Charles Compton, Kentucky Public RadioForty years of portraits by a Lexington photographer have been gathered in a book and in a downtown Lexington art exhibit. They’re by Guy Mendes, whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Playboy and Smithsonian magazines. Mendes says the black-and-white photographs feature people from throughout Kentucky and the South. “This new book, 40/40, 40 Years, 40 Portraits, really is a kind of a core sample of people I’ve met through my life who have inspired and amazed me. So I feel like the book is a kind of tribute,” he said.The Mendes portraits are also on display in the Institute 193 gallery in downtown Lexington through January 29th.(Photo from www.institute193.org)