By Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Photos by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Aldridge Gardens was the site of a reunion and an introduction.
Former photographers from Southern Living magazine assembled in the Eddie and Kay Aldridge Arts and Historical Collections Museum to remember days gone by. “On the program are the dates that we worked there so it is pretty much a Southern Living reunion,” says Joe DeSciose at the Jan. 30 gathering. “There are photographers here who go way back. There’s a woman here who was a photographer from ’79 to ’90. It’s like, I didn’t know those people because I didn’t start until ‘03.”
Through the first week of March, Aldridge Gardens is also a place where readers of the regional magazine can reacquaint themselves with the talents of the photographers whose pictures highlighted the pages of the periodical. Except they’ll be seeing photos they’ve never seen before. Eighteen longtime Southern Living photographers have 43 products of their skills on display.
“This is so fun for me to come back and see everyone, especially seeing everyone’s work that is non-magazine related,” Beth Dreiling Hontzas says. “It’s fun to see what people’s interests and passions are outside of what their core job was when we worked there. And, of course, it’s just fun to catch up with old friends.”
Rip Weaver is a member of Aldridge Gardens’ Art and Sculpture Committee. He credits Art Meripol with putting the reunion and exhibition together after a random conversation. “It was like, ‘Hey, what if we got all the old Southern Living photographers together?’” Weaver recalls. “It wasn’t a I-came-to-him or he-came-to-me kind of thing.”
Meripol, whose live concert photography was displayed at Aldridge Gardens in 2023, says that contacting his fellow Southern Living staffers and getting their pictures for the exhibition was “a delightful challenge.”
Marygray Hunter says her tenure at Southern Living was in a “golden age” where photographers were part of a staff and part of a family. “The thought of getting back together with all these people was the circle of my life coming together,” she says.
Mary Smith, another Art and Sculpture Committee member, says the participation of 18 former Southern Living photographers is a testament to Meripol’s personality and the respect he has from his fellow photographers. She cited three photos that Jennifer Davick,who lives in California, contributed that reflect the wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles. “She printed them out and turned them around in a hurry to get them to Art (and) shipped them to his house because he asked to have something of hers in the show,” Smith says, turning her attention to a huge photo of a fog-covered landscape by Mary Margaret Chambliss. “She took it off her living room wall to bring it in because it was the only piece, substantial piece she had produced.”
While longtime Southern Living readers will again see the work of their favorite photographers, a visit to the exhibition will introduce them to new treasures. “That was specifically said,” Smith adds. “Bring in something that’s your personal outlet, that’s your personal esthetic. Nothing that’s been in the magazine. Everything in here is unseen by Southern Living readers.”
Like Gary Clark’s photo of the space shuttle Endeavor. Clark started photographing shuttles at No. 5 and continued shooting them all the way up to the last one at No. 135.
Michael Clemmer cited the impact of the late Bruce Roberts on photography at Southern Living. “He changed Southern Living photography more toward photojournalism,” Clemmer says. “Bruce was a big change agent for Southern Living.”
Meripol says the Southern Living photography staff felt like a real team. “We all wanted (to have the photo on) the cover,” he says. “We might compete in certain areas, but we all also wanted the best stuff in our magazine and wanted each other to succeed. I think it was just the best photo staff anywhere.”
Other photographers whose work is on display include Mac Jamieson, Sylvia Martin, Meg McKinney, Jean Allsopp, Van Chaplin, Colleen Duffley, Melissa Springer, Kim McRae and Tina Cornett.
