Jem Southam

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Jem Southam (born 1950) is a British landscape photographer and educator.[1] He has had solo exhibitions at Tate St Ives, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Lowry, and the Royal West of England Academy.

Southam's work is held in the collections of the British Council;[1] UK Government Art Collection;[2] J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles;[3] Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;[4] Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri;[5] Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam;[6] Science Museum Group, UK;[7] Tate, UK;[8] and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.[9]

Life and work[edit]

Southam was born in Bristol. He studied creative photography at the London College of Printing,[10] then worked at Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol from 1976 to 1982. He taught at Falmouth School of Art then taught photography for many years at the University of Plymouth where he is now emeritus Professor of Photography in the School of Art, Design and Architecture.[2][11]

Predominantly, "Southam's subject is the rural landscape of the South West of England, where he lives and works."[1] He conducts long-term studies of selected sites, that trace changes over seasons and even several years. His first project, in black and white, was The Floating Harbour: a Landscape History of Bristol City Docks (1977–84). All subsequent series are in colour and include Paintings of the West of Cornwall (1982–86); and The Long White Cloud, made in New Zealand at the end of 2018.[10] He uses an 8×10 large format view camera.[12]

Publications[edit]

  • The Floating Harbour – A landscape history of Bristol City Docks. Redcliff, 1982. With John Lord.
  • The Red River. Manchester: Cornerhouse, 1989. With essays by D.M.Thomas, Frank Turk and Jan Ruhrmund.
  • The Raft of Carrots. London: The Photographers' Gallery, 1992. With an essay by David Chandler.
  • Rockfalls, Rivermouths and Ponds. Eastbourne: Towner Gallery; Maidstone: Photoworks, 2000. With essays by David Chandler, Ian Jeffrey and Jeremy Millar.
  • Landscape Stories. Princeton Architectural Press/Blindspot, 2005. With essays by Andy Grundberg and Gerry Badger. ISBN 978-1568985176.
  • The Painter's Pool. Nazraeli, 2007. With an essay by Chris Cook.
  • Clouds Descending. Salford: Lowry, 2008 With essays by Nick Alfrey, Lindsay Brooks, David Chandler, Richard Hamblyn, Matthew Southam and Harriet Tarlo.
  • Rockfalls and Ponds. La Fabrica / PHotoEspaña, 2010. With an introduction by Sergio Mah.
  • The Moth. London: Mack. 2018.
  • Four Winters. London: Stanley/Barker, 2022. ISBN 978-1-913288-25-9.
  • The Harbour. Bristol: RRB, 2023.

Solo exhibitions[edit]

Awards[edit]

Collections[edit]

Southam's work is held in the following permanent collections:

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Jem Southam - Artists - Collection - British Council − Visual Arts". visualarts.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  2. ^ a b c "Jem Southam". Government Art Collection. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  3. ^ a b "Jem Southam (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection)". The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  4. ^ a b "1 results for Jem Southam". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  5. ^ a b "Jem Southam – Artists/Makers – The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art". nelson-atkins.org. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  6. ^ a b "Moerdijkbrug, Jem Southam, 2003". Rijksmuseum. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  7. ^ a b "Jem Southam - Science Museum Group Collection". sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  8. ^ a b "Jem Southam born 1950". Tate. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  9. ^ a b "Search Results - V&A Explore the Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  10. ^ a b "Photographer Jem Southam captures the majesty of New Zealand". Financial Times. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  11. ^ "Professor Jem Southam - University of Plymouth". www.plymouth.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  12. ^ "Britain: what lies ahead?". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  13. ^ "Tate St Ives Winter Season 2004". BBC. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  14. ^ "Past Exhibitions and Displays 2006". www.vam.ac.uk. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  15. ^ "Exhibition preview: Jem Southam: Clouds Descending, Salford". The Guardian. 15 November 2008. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  16. ^ "Wander lonely as a cloud". Manchester Evening News. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  17. ^ "Jem Southam: A Bend in The River". Royal West of England Academy. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  18. ^ "Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize" (PDF). The Photographers' Gallery.

External links[edit]