The people, places and things that interest Southlight members are diverse. However, they do seem to orbit around some centers of gravity. Below are some of the Salon’s favorite watering holes, people and places we turn to when we need to recharge, reset and reinvigorate.
Southlight members are honored and humbled by their close ties to these people and organizations.
A perennial favorite. It can best be described as the Woodstock of fine art photography focused solely on the rural South. It’s three (or is it four?) days of photography orgy in Pike County, Georgia. It is anchored by a photography exhibition that has been juried by some of the most significant individuals of contemporary photography. It also includes a high-end variety of pop-up shows, group exhibitions, one-person shows, an artist-in-residence lecture, and a student program.
All of this is conducted at multiple sites that include a farm, bookstore and historic buildings across three lovely, rural southern towns. Attendees, many of whom are the exhibiting artists, past and present, rub elbows at the group meals and social gatherings, such as the much-anticipated Soirée at the Farm. The vibe is warm and collegial. Many friendships and connections are made and kept at “Slow.” And a few successful careers have been launched here.
Christine Curry is at the center of the art fest and we are all forever grateful. Slow Exposures is the recipient of the Georgia’s Governor Award for the Arts and Humanities.
One cannot mention Slow Exposures without its sibling, SouthxSoutheast PhotoMagazine. For years, Christine Curry and Nancy McCrary were the masterminds behind “Slow” and “SxSE.” As both endeavors grew, they thought it best to divide and conquer. Nancy took the helm of the magazine.
For over a decade SxSE has been the platform to give voice that art is alive and well below the Mason-Dixon Line. SxSE features fine art, documentary, and illustrative photography of the American Southeast. Through interviews and feature galleries, book previews, photo gallery and museum news they highlight the work of photographers who either reside in the American South or travel here to photograph our culture, beauty, and resources. Many an emerging artist has been discovered and brought to light via the magazine.
This is the Big Daddy. ACP is the largest community-oriented photo festival in the United States. Its impact in promoting photography as an art form cannot be overstated. Through juried exhibitions, lectures, public displays of art, portfolio reviews, and special shows by local galleries the city comes alive with photography.
Suffice it to say that the photographic world centers around Atlanta during this month-long festival. Anyone remotely interested in photography as an artistic expression should make a photographic Hajj to ACP.
Elizabeth is photography Royalty and a good friend of Southlight Salon. Her credentials, knowledge, insights and talents are deep, always current and impeccable. In 2017 she received The Lifetime Achievement Award from the Griffin Museum of Photography. She has also created the design template for the Southlight Salon Annual Book publication.
Southlight strongly recommends attending her workshops, reading her books and essays, and studying the photobooks and exhibitions she has designed.
Mark Steinmetz's work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and many others. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and has taught photography at Yale University, Harvard University, Sarah Lawrence College and elsewhere.
Steinmetz has over a dozen books of his photographs, including South Central, South East, Greater Atlanta, Paris in my Time, Summertime, Angel City West, and The Players, which were all published by the Nazraeli Press. The Humid is a new space for photographic workshops, lectures, screenings, and events in Athens, GA.
Elisabeth Biondi was the Visuals Editor of The New Yorker for 15 years until she left in 2011 to work as an independent curator, writer, and teacher. She teaches at SVA Graduate School for Photography and Related Media and is an MFA Thesis Advisor.
The National Arts Club was founded in 1898 by author and poet Charles De Kay. The intent was to create a gathering place to welcome art lovers, patrons and artists of all genres. By 1906 it had outgrown its original location and acquired the historic Samuel Tilden Mansion in Gramercy Park area of Manhattan. It maintains its vibrancy to this day providing Exhibitions, Lectures, and Special Events.
Several of today’s most significant American artists maintain a residence and studio there. Through one of Southlight’s members we are able to make this very special place our home-away-from-home when we are in New York City. We encourage you to find out more and support this early foundation of American Art.
It’s amazing who you find right in your own back yard. Renowned book artist and book designer Britt Stadig has handcrafted books, boxes, portfolios and display cases for some of the most important artists working today. A true one-of-a-kind talent, Britt is a champion of the lost art of handmade books. She has created beautiful, intricate portfolios and cases for three members of the Salon.
