OFF HIGHWAY 441, GEORGIA/NORTH CAROLINA STATE LINE by Mark Steinmetz

1997
From the series South East
Silver gelatin print
16 × 20 in
Edition of 15
Available as print only or framed

“Mark Steinmetz works in a venerable tradition of photographic prowling that bets everything on the ordinary. Each picture is the fruit of an unplanned encounter: Though the photographer may know more or less where he is going, he can’t know precisely what he will find. An accumulation of these improvised perceptions can make both a world and a way of looking at it.” 

—from the Introduction in South East, written by Peter Galassi

Highly regarded for his black and white portraits, Mark Steinmetz is renowned for producing powerful pictures that capture the strong sense of displacement and isolation felt by many young Americans. 

This piece from South East, a companion series to his critically-acclaimed monograph South Central, turns Steinmetz’s focus to Athens and Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis and East Tennessee, and the roads between. 

Silver gelatin prints are black and white images exposed from an analog film negative using only optical and chemical processes. The process yields an image with deep blacks, organic texture, and a timeless look.