Robert McCurley
Robert McCurley was born and raised in the South and spent most of his life earning a living in corporate America. He supplemented his income with wedding and portrait photography. Today, he is focused solely on personal artistic endeavors.
Robert McCurley was born and raised in the South and spent most of his life earning a living in corporate America. He supplemented his income with wedding and portrait photography. Today, he is focused solely on personal artistic endeavors. His photographic education includes classes at the former Southeastern Center for the Photographic Arts in Atlanta, GA, workshops with Keith Carter and Magnum photographers David Alan Harvey and Alex Webb as well as countless hours studying the work of influential artists.
He is a collector of photographs and photography books. His photographs have been exhibited in a variety of venues and galleries across the U.S. He is a published author of poems and short stories. Robert has served as a juror and curator of photography exhibits and is a founding member of Southlight Salon.
MOST MEMORABLE SOUTHLIGHT MOMENT
My first Nick Dantona-prepared meal.
FAVORITE NICK DANTONA MEAL
Anything the man cooks. He's a culinary god.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVENT THAT IMPACTED ME THE MOST
Seeing my first darkroom print appear in the developing tray in 1982, and my first trip to LOOK3 Photo Festival in 2008.
Jerry Park
Jerry began seriously pursuing photography in 2007 after a career in corporate America. Drawn to photographs since childhood - waiting for the mailman to deliver the latest issues of Look, Life, or National Geographic - he finally jumped into the pool and hasn't looked back…
Jerry began seriously pursuing photography in 2007 after a career in corporate America. Drawn to photographs since childhood - waiting for the mailman to deliver the latest issues of Look, Life, or National Geographic - he finally jumped into the pool and hasn't looked back.
Landscapes were his first love and continue to be a frequent subject. In addition, he’s enjoyed building a portfolio of the interiors of all sorts of workspaces, from a shoe-shine shop to Nashville's water filtration plant, from a car seat recoverer to a pristine Purity Dairy, from an artist's studio to the shop of a third-generation luthier. For the past few years, he’s concentrated on photographing the backroads of the US, first of his home state, Tennessee — which produced 2 books of photographs and short stories — and currently of all 50 states in the union. His third book, Slow Roads America, will be published in 2021.
Raised in North Carolina, he has a bachelors degree from Wofford College and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His corporate career included leadership positions at Xerox; in the Christian music field, and at Thomas Nelson Publishers. Living in the Nashville area since 1986, he is happily married with three children and five grandchildren. Life is good.
MOST MEMORABLE SOUTHLIGHT MOMENT
Being invited to become a Southlight member in 2009, a fairly early point in my development as an artist. I've always had an extra portion of love for the fellows who saw what I could become, rather than what I already was.
FAVORITE NICK DANTONA MEAL
NY Strip, finished with a spicy rub and topped with horseradish, sautéed mushroom caps, asparagus soup, mixed salad, and toasted sourdough bread.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVENT THAT IMPACTED ME THE MOST
My first solo exhibit at the Arts Company. It featured a project called WorkSpace - photographs of 40 unusual business environments. Many of my friends and others attended the opening and we sold stuff. I couldn't quite grasp the fact that someone would not only buy my work, but actually hang it up in their house and look at it every day. I was humbled and inspired to keep at it.
AJ Williams (Intern)
AJ Williams first got his hands on a camera at the age of eight. By the time he was a young teen, freshly uprooted from the farmlands of Iowa and replanted in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, he was hopelessly smitten by photography, it would never be just another ailing fad. On the contrary, it would turn out to be his driving passion and utmost delight.
AJ first got his hands on a camera at the age of eight. By the time he was a young teen, freshly uprooted from the farmlands of Iowa and replanted in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, he was hopelessly smitten by photography, it would never be just another ailing fad. On the contrary, it would turn out to be his driving passion and utmost delight.
Two decades since his first disposable windup, AJ has developed his own unique style of pristine realism that occasionally softens itself with a little romance. Through his photographs, AJ presents a version of the world that is flawless yet eerily recognizable; a kind of dramatized authenticity evocative of cinema. It is this immaculate style that won him the gold award in illustrative work from College Photographer of the Year (CPOY), and continues to set him apart to this day.
AJ understands how to masterfully articulate the complexities of mood and emotion through his thoughtful choice of composition, lighting, color, and processing. It is worth noting that the latter is a large part of AJ’s joy, as he painstakingly works on each image until it reaches its final form, as close to perfection as this fallen world will allow. During his current role as Digital Imaging Specialist for iconic rock and roll photographer Lynn Goldsmith, AJ has continued to refine his technical skills. His time is spent retouching celebrity portraits, scanning/restoring film negatives and slides, creating fine art prints, and managing international agencies – all the while tightening his grasp on the inner-workings of photography as a business.
Since moving to Nashville, AJ has actively sought out the next generation of aspiring photographers who long to learn and refine their craft. Currently helping the young men in his local Church, a select few of them have taken a serious interest in photography as a hobby. As he has shares his deep passion for the craft. An easy-going disposition and generous nature render AJ the kind of teacher who sincerely delights in seeing others grow in confidence and skill. AJ has always appreciated the value of mentors in his own life, and seeks to humbly learn from other respected photographers with many years of experience and wisdom. He does not shy away from criticism or advice; in fact he relishes it.
Whether he’s on a professional set, or shooting nature to unwind, AJ pours his heart and soul into his work. Everything from his portrait and product photography, to his landscapes and night-crawling, gleams with the richness of a lucid dream. His portfolio, though distinct in style, is by no means homogenous. Few photographers can capture the hushed loneliness of a neglected Cadillac nestled in a damp garden, right alongside the synthetic beauty of the city at midnight in all its neon splendor. This stunning variety of images is a testament to AJ’s conscious effort to push open a fresh creative door the moment the resources of his current comfort zone have been exhausted. AJ’s innate desire to explore, coupled with a disdain for a static life devoid of risk or discovery, is sure to serve him mightily both professionally and recreationally for decades to come.
