Elephant details from March 2019, Gandaki Predesh, Nepal.
A man, a plan, a ham, Allan Benton
This man is responsible for some of the tastiest meats one can find in America. Chefs all over clamor for his aged hams (and, for my money, he makes the tastiest bacon money can buy). And Allan Benton (seen here with wood for the smokers) may well be the nicest man you’ll meet. When we stopped in to Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams a while back—just customers off the street—he took the time to tell us the history of his business and showed us how everything is made, step by step. Nearly an hour’s worth of touring us around and he still made the time to sit for a portrait for me.
Legendary hospitality and legendary smoked meats. They ship to basically everywhere…just sayin’.
Stephanie on the water
We recently had the chance to celebrate a birthday with family up in rural Tennessee and we spent as much time as possible outside, including a little hike down to the water at Tims Ford State Park. Pretty sure Stephanie would live outside if it were plausible.
Michael Curtis's Farmhouse
My friend Michael Curtis is one hell of an architect and I recently got to photograph a couple of his projects here in town. This Farmhouse is tucked away in the woods and it’s just magical and if Stephanie and I ever move I’m hoping to con him into designing it).
Also, we had Missie Crawford on set to put everything in its place and I’m always amazed at her appointments.
Samantha Tore
Just a quick bit of love for Samantha Tore real quick. I got to meet her back in February during the SFA winter symposium in Birmingham and I keep seeing her everywhere I look online, and in print. Her recipe is on the cover of Food & Wine at the moment (it’s a roasted curry tomato pie that, by all accounts I’ve read, is delicious).
Follow along with Sam at @tuktuklex and @browninthesouth.
Automatic Seafood & Oysters...is delicious
Oh man. Last post I mentioned Birmingham Magazine’s Food Issue and I’d be remiss not to post about the feature I shot on Automatic Seafood & Oysters.
Chef Adam Evans made a name for himself in Atlanta and I’m so glad he returned home to Alabama because everything I’ve eaten from his kitchen is amazing. He owns Automatic with his wife Suzanne Humphries who is responsible for everything about how the place looks. She’s an ace designer and the restaurant shows it.
Follow along at @automaticseafood and by all means go quickly to eat there. So good.
Seed to Plate for Birmingham Magazine's Food Issue
I recently worked on a Seed to Plate story for Birmingham Magazine’s FOOD ISSUE and met some wonderful people along the way, not least of whom is Andrew Kesterson from Belle Meadow Farm (which he manages with his wife Laurie Beth). He handed me an ear of corn that is easily the tastiest I’ve ever had, and I ate it raw, right there in the field.
Their farm started out as 600 square foot garden plot on disused and abused farmland and now it’s nearly 10 acres of healthy soil producing loads of produce for local restaurants and farmers markets. In fact, some of that produce found its way onto the cover of the magazine (and it’s got to be one of my favorite covers I’ve contributed to, thanks in large part to the design of the creative director Nicole Gerrity). Follow along with the farm at @bellemeadowfarm.
Andrew Kesterson picking corn at Belle Meadow Farm outside Tuscaloosa, Ala.
People + Southwest
Lot’s has been going on around here lately and I have a few things I want to post about while I have some down time. The first couple of stories are below.
First: I was honored to have the opportunity to travel down to Tampa to photograph a cover story for a People Magazine special Health issue. The story is about a woman called Jessica Kessler who has been suffering from chronic dry eye since her eye surgery a decade ago. Many thanks to Jessica and her family for giving us so much time and special thanks to Florence Nash for the project.
Just to get out of bed in the morning, Jessica has to coax her eyes open from being nearly glued to her eyelids.
I also recently had the chance to meet a remarkable guy right here in Alabama and make some photographs for Southwest’s inflight magazine (Southwest: The Magazine, imagine that). Rodney Smith Jr. started a foundation that provides lawn care free of charge. He’s having big impacts on his immediate community, but also taking his mission to every state. And most impressive to me, with his mentoring program, he’s inspiring countless children to serve the elderly, disabled, single parents, and veterans.
He seems to be all over the news, but if you happen to fly @southwestair some time soon, be sure to look for the story about him and his work (or you can read the story online here). And if you want to see where in the world he is right now, check him out at @rodneysmithjr and @raisingmenlawncareservice.
AP Suaze
Quick shout out to @suazeone. The man is a musical library, brilliant producer, musician, father, and all around solid human. If you’re looking to stay in new music, he’s got a killer set each week on @substrateradio called The Pastime Paradise. Thanks for all your contributions to our city, AP.
Mo:mo:s!
I’ve been slowly working through images from Nepal and, seeing this shot, I think I may well be ready to eat some mo:mo:s.
We had these little dumplings all over the place and I’m amazed at how consistently they were flavored and how delicious they were. The good news is that we have a Nepalese place here in town, so that’s going to have to happen soon.
Artists in Residence at the Wiregrass Museum of Art
This past week, Jared and I served as artists in residence at the Wiregrass Museum of Art, during which we worked on our on-going landscape project, Where You Come From Is Gone, which follows sites of former Native American habitation and removal across Alabama. While we scouted for photographs to make, I grabbed this photo of Jared atop this small mountain of sandstone and kaolin rock located several miles down a dirt road deep in Henry County, Ala. pine forests.
Ashley Christensen
I had the chance to photograph Ashley Christensen again recently when she was the keynote speaker at the Southern Foodways Alliance Winter Symposium where she presented an open, personal talk on her history in the food world, her personal identity, and her approach to being an incredible restaurateur.
An online adaptation of this talk was featured this morning the Food&Wine website and it’s well worth a read, whether you live and work in the food world or not.
Along with this article, you may have seen her in the new recently with her James Beard Foundation nomination for Outstanding Chef.
Congratulations, Ashley!
SEASICK RECORDS / Drinkard
My friend Daniel owns a record shop and has a rad family, so we made a 90s-style 8x10 band glossy because those are also pretty rad.
Chef John Hall
Chef John Hall, photographed recently for the Southern Foodways Alliance.
John is an incredible chef I’m proud to call a friend, and man am I glad he came back home a few years ago to open Post Office Pies (right in my own neighborhood). I look forward to seeing John help guide the food scene in the southeast for years to come.
The man makes a damn fine pizza.
Adios 2018
2018 was a pretty fine year for taking pictures. Looking forward to lots of hard work in 2019.
Above, yet another example of attention to detail at Highlands Bar and Grill, for whom I had the pleasure to make photographs this year.
Austin Perine for Reader's Digest
With Thanksgiving this week, this is a perfect time to be able to share the story of Austin Perine (seen here in a recent shoot for Reader’s Digest).
Austin, aka @presidentaustinshowlove, is a tiny little dude with a tremendous heart. His catch phrase is “don’t forget to show love” and he shows his love by feeding the homeless and raising awareness on their behalf. What started with Austin feeding people here in Birmingham with his allowance has turned into a nationwide campaign.
It’s wonderful to see such compassion and empathy come from such a young man. I’ll take it as a sign of good things to come from his entire generation.
Austin with his dad TJ, who helps Austin raise awareness full-time now.
Austin distributing food and drink I’m downtown Birmingham.
The Essential
Down on Morris Avenue here in Birmingham there’s a delightfully quaint little restaurant called The Essential and it’s the newest spot by Kristen Hall and Victor King.
Delicious. Adorable. Bright. Welcoming. Delicious (again).
I’ll let the photos speak for themselves but do check out the November issue of Birmingham Magazine for many more photos plus the full write up on this great little place. If you’re in Birmingham, definitely stop in for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or brunch on the weekend.
Bottega
A few photos at Bottega from this year.
Olivia Affuso, Ph.D.
UAB - Powered by will.
I recently had the chance to work with some amazing humans for a campaign for UAB. These three people are no doubt just the tip of the iceberg of the great research and innovation happening in our town. I’m so pleased to have had the opportunity to meet them.
Olivia Affuso (above) is an epidemiologist studying obesity and is developing a new way to measure BMI with existing technology.
Dr. Matt Might found an extremely rare genetic condition in his son and developed a treatment previously unheard of.
Paige Severino is a senior in the biomedical engineering program and is part of a team solving medical problems by designing new equipment.
For much more about their work, see UAB’s website about being Powered by will.
Many thanks to the whole team including UAB and Lewis Communications.
Highlands Bar and Grill
I photographed at Highlands Bar and Grill again recently and thought I’d share a few images, including a portrait of Chef Stitt I’m happy with.
