Birney Imes (born 1951) is an American photographer. He is best known for his photographs of the American South, especially his home state of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. His work is exhibited in museums across the United States.

Biography

Early life

Birney Imes III was born in 1951 in Columbus, Mississippi.Grover Lewis
Juke Joints, Roadhouses and Southern Parables : The Documentary Lyricism of Photographer Birney Imes
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', August 07, 1994Judith H. Bonner (ed.), ''New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture'', Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, Volume 21, 201

/ref> His father, Vinton Birney Imes, Jr., owned the town newspaper, ''

The Commercial Dispatch ''The Commercial Dispatch'' is the daily newspaper of Columbus, Mississippi, United States. It was created from the merger of two older papers, the ''Commercial'' and the ''Dispatch'', in the early 20th century. The first issue of the consolidated ...

''. His mother is Nancy McClanahan Imes. He attended desegregated public schools in Columbus and graduated from the

University of Tennessee at Knoxville The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 1973.

Career

Imes began photographing after graduation from college and is largely self-taught. In the mid-70s,birneyimes he worked as a photographer for his family's newspaper in his hometown of Columbus. Later, he opened his own studio above the Princess Theater in Columbus. Along with his personal work, Imes shot commercial work for local clients and took assignments for magazines like ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' and ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

.'' Drawing inspiration from the photographs of other Southern artists like

Eudora Welty Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel '' The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerou ...

and

William Eggleston William Eggleston (born July 27, 1939) is an American photographer. He is widely credited with increasing recognition for color photography as a legitimate artistic medium. Eggleston's books include ''William Eggleston's Guide'' (1976) and ''The ...

, his work concentrates on the American South, especially blacks in the Mississippi Delta.Robert Smith
n Eye for the Essential : Imes' subjects may be aware of the photographer, but they don't mind him being there
''Los Angeles Times'', September 11, 1994 Imes photographs are included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York City; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris and numerous museum and private collections in the United States. His work has been exhibited widely in solo and group shows, including The Art Institute of Chicago, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

and the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

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, the Center for Creative Photography at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, and the

Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in the Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1999, and in Stephen Goldring Hall at 925 Camp Street since 2003. The building The Ogden consists of two main buildin ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. In 1991 University Press of Mississippi published "Juke Joint," the first of Imes' three books. University Press followed "Juke Joint" with the 1994 publication of "Whispering Pines." That same year Smithsonian Press published a collection of his black and white work, "Partial to Home."

Personal life

He lives in Columbus, Mississippi with his wife Beth. They have three children: Peter, John and Tanner.

Bibliography

*''Juke Joint'' (Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1990).University Press of Mississippi
/ref> *''Whispering Pines'' (Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1994). *''Partial to Home'' (Smithsonian Press, 1994).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imes, Birney Living people 1951 births People from Columbus, Mississippi American photographers Businesspeople from Mississippi