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.