NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Mark Steinmetz’s photographs transcend the traditional boundaries of documentary, street, and fine art photography. Photographing almost exclusively in black and white, Steinmetz’s explores the fragile and sublime visual tapestry of everyday life, where the mundane and banal become elevated to the exquisite through the lens of his camera. Mark Steinmetz: South includes photographic selections from three of his books published by Nazraeli Press – South East, South Central, and Greater Atlanta, along with a compilation of new and unseen work. Mark Steinmetz is represented by several galleries around the world including – Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia, Yancey Richardson Gallery; New York City; and Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen, Amsterdam. Steinmetz was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in 1994. Steinmetz lives and works in Athens, Georgia.

Ogden Museum Curator of Photography Richard McCabe says of the exhibition, “Mark Steinmetz is interested in making photographs that he describes as “openended” and “open to interpretation”. His photographs seem to ask more questions of the viewer than they answer. This open-ended approach to photography allows the viewer easy access to his world. We are left to our own devices to make sense of this imagery. His art is more metaphorical than literal and evokes a poetic and atmospheric vision of the American South.”
 
Mark Steinmetz received his MFA from Yale University in 1986. He has been published in Aperture, Blind Spot, and DoubleTake magazines and is a Guggenheim fellow. Steinmetz' work is in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Located in the vibrant Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art holds the largest collection of Southern art and is recognized for its original exhibitions, public events, and educational programs which examine the development of visual art alongside Southern traditions of music, literature, and culinary heritage to provide a comprehensive story of the South.