ExhibitionsPicturing the South: 25 Years
Past Exhibition

Picturing the South: 25 Years

November 4, 2021 – February 6, 2022

In 1996, the High began commissioning photographers from across the world to engage with and explore the American South’s rich social and geographic landscape for its Picturing the South initiative. To date, the Museum has commissioned sixteen artists and has built a collection of more than three hundred photographs as part of the program, which include some of the most iconic photography projects of the last quarter century.

To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of Picturing the South, the High will mount a major exhibition that brings together all the commissions for the first time. Taken as a whole, the photographs amount to a complex and layered archive of the region that addresses broad themes, from the legacy of slavery and racial justice to the social implications of the evolving landscape and the distinct and diverse character of the region’s people.

Works on view will include the first photographs in Sally Mann’s Motherland series; Dawoud Bey’s over-life-size portraits of Atlanta high school students; Richard Misrach’s Cancer Alley industrial landscapes; along with previous commissions by Alex Webb, Emmet Gowin, Alec Soth, Martin Parr, Kael Alford, Shane Lavalette, Abelardo Morell, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Alex Harris, and Mark Steinmetz; and new commissions by An-My Lê, Sheila Pree Bright, and Jim Goldberg, which will debut in the exhibition.

This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Sally Mann

Sally Mann
American, born 1951
Untitled, 1996
Gelatin silver print
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and Lucinda W. Bunnen

Resized D4620u210462051996.102mann O3.jpg

Alex Webb

Alex Webb
American, born 1952
Atlanta, 1996
Dye destruction print
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and Lucinda W. Bunnen

Resized Db Photod8402u819840231996.111webbcrp O2.jpg

Dawoud Bey

Dawoud Bey
American, born 1953
Nicole and Keith, 1996
Dye diffusion transfer prints
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and Lucinda W. Bunnen

Resized D2764u211276401996.119a Fbey O3.jpg

Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach
American, born 1949
Swamp and Pipeline, Geismar, Louisiana, 1998, printed 2012
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust, Lucinda W. Bunnen, and High Museum of Art Enhancement Fund

Resized D5924u205592432012.7misrach O3.jpg

Emmet Gowin

Emmet Gowin
American, born 1941
Aeration and Sedimentation Ponds, Coosa Pines, Alabama, 2001
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and Lucinda W. Bunnen

Resized Db Photod8477u819847742004.194gowincrop O2.jpg

Alec Soth

Alec Soth
American, born 1969
S.J., Nubbin Creek, Alabama, 2007
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from Photo Forum and the Friends of Photography

Resized Db Photod0570u639057042009.14soths.j.nubbincreek2007 O2.jpg

Martin Parr

Martin Parr
British, born 1952
Staff at the Silver Skillet Restaurant, 2011
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from Paul Hagedorn and Lucinda W. Bunnen and Robert L. Bunnen

Resized D5598u205559862012.28.4parr O2.jpg

Kael Alford

Kael Alford
American, born 1971
Joseph and Jasmon Jackson Play in the Bayou, Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, 2010
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from Paul Hagedorn, Phyllis and Sidney Rodbell, and the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust

Resized D5984u205598472012.26.12alford O3.jpg

Shane Lavalette

Shane Lavalette
American, born 1987
Will with Banjo, 2011
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from Paul Hagedorn and the Friends of Photography

Resized D5411u205541192012.27.12lavalette O2.jpg

Abelardo Morell

Abelardo Morell
American, born Cuba, 1948
Camera Obscura: View of Atlanta Looking South Down Peachtree Street in Hotel Room, 2013
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and gift of the artist

Resized Db Photod8172u928817292013.805morell Cameraobscura Viewofatlantalookingsouthdownpeachtreestreetinhotelroom. O3.jpg

Debbie Fleming Caffery

Debbie Fleming Caffery
American, born 1948
Stormy Sky, 2016
Gelatin silver print
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund

Caffery 1480x1107.jpg

Mark Steinmetz

Mark Steinmetz
American, born 1961
Untitled, 2016
Gelatin silver print
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund

Resized Db Photod8828u918882872015.468steinmetz O2.jpg

Alex Harris

Alex Harris
American, born 1949
And the People Could Fly, Columbia, South Carolina, 2018
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust and the Picturing the South Fund

Resized Db Photod5141u907514122015.473harris O3.jpg

Jim Goldberg

Jim Goldberg
American, born 1953
Hailey and Whitney, Right of Way Road, Augusta, Arkansas, 2021
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from the H.B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust, courtesy of the artist.

Jim Goldberg Image 1480x1184.jpg

Sheila Pree Bright

Sheila Pree Bright
American, born 1967
Rituals, from the series Invisible Empire, 2019–2021
Gelatin silver print
Commissioned with funds from the Forward Arts Foundation

Bright 1480x987.jpg

An-My Lê

An-My Lê
American, born Vietnam, 1960
High School Students after Black Lives Matter Protest, Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C., 2020
Pigmented inkjet print
Commissioned with funds from the Forward Arts Foundation

Dc 2020 020 V6 Hsgirls.jpg

LINK Digital Archive

Home screen of the Picturing the South LINK archive seen on an ipad.

Take a deep dive into the High’s new LINK digital archive on Picturing the South: 25 Years. Learn about all sixteen artists in the exhibition through videos, essays, archival materials, and an interactive map. Plus, explore all the artworks in the exhibition online with high resolution images and exhibition texts.

The Picturing the South LINK archive is the second in a new series of innovative digital publications focused on works from the High’s permanent collection.

 

Press

Picturing the South: 25 Years is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.
Major funding for this exhibition is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation, the Forward Arts Foundation, and the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation.

Major Funding

Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor

Premier Exhibition Series Supporters

Sarah and Jim Kennedy
Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot
Dr. Joan H. Weens Estate

Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporters

Anne Cox Chambers Foundation
Robin and Hilton Howell

Ambassador Exhibition Supporters

The Antinori Foundation
Corporate Environments
Elizabeth and Chris Willett

Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters

Farideh and Al Azadi
Sandra and Dan Baldwin
The Ron and Lisa Brill Family Charitable Trust
Lucinda W. Bunnen
Marcia and John Donnell
Helen C. Griffith
Mrs. Fay S. Howell/The Howell Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones
The Arthur R. and Ruth D. Lautz Charitable Foundation
Joel Knox and Joan Marmo
Dr. Joe B. Massey
Margot and Danny McCaul
Wade Rakes and Nicholas Miller
The Fred and Rita Richman Fund
In Memory of Elizabeth B. Stephens by Powell Stephens, Preston Stephens, and Sally Stephens Westmoreland
USI Insurance Services
Mrs. Harriet H. Warren

Generous support is also provided by

Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, Isobel Anne Fraser–Nancy Fraser Parker Exhibition Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, and the RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund.