Leslie K. Brown here. Today, almost in preparation for next Thursday’s opening of New England Survey at the PRC, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing British landscape photographer Jem Southam speak at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum. Southam’s Upton Pyne exhibition opens Wednesday evening at the Davis Museum, but today he spoke to Patricia Berman’s photohistory class. Besides myself and Bruce Myren, and Davis curator Dabney Hailey, others in attendance included Laura McPhee and her MassArt class as well as MFA curators William Stover and Karen Haas. Jem is known for his contemplative, photographic observations of a single location over many years. Upton Pyne is his 6-year study of a single pond.

Among other accomplishments, Jem was a past PRC Leopold Godowsky Jr. Color Photography Award winner. These awards are administered by the PRC and are by nomination. Jem was one of the 1992/1993 cycle winners, along with several other names you might recognize. It was great to catch up with him and Dabney graciously invited me to lunch. We ate outside at Jem’s insistence. At first I thought it would be too cold, but, true to Jem’s wonderful form and presence, I was glad to convene with nature. Jem teaches at a very unique program in the UK through the University of Plymouth/Exeter School of Art and Design (read more about the Land and Water program here, which includes scholar Liz Wells among others). I encourage you to check out the exhibition (up through June 8th) and if Jem ever speaks anywhere near you, please go, it is an incredible experience! What an amazingly sweet person to boot!

Here is a great link from the Victoria & Albert Museum on Jem Southam and two of his most recent series, Upton Pyne and the Painter’s Pool.

You can read an interview with Jem Southam here.

ABOVE IMAGE: Jem Southam enjoying the winter sun outside of the Davis Museum.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 6:56 pm and is filed under Boston Scene, PRC History, PRC fun facts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.