Jem Southam (born 1950) is a British landscape photographer and educator.[1] He has had solo exhibitions at Tate St Ives, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Lowry, and the Royal West of England Academy.
Southam's work is held in the collections of the British Council;[1]UKGovernment Art Collection;[2] J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles;[3] Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;[4] Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri;[5] Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam;[6] Science Museum Group, UK;[7] Tate, UK;[8] and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.[9]
Southam was born in Bristol. He studied creative photography at the London College of Printing,[10] then worked at Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol from 1976 to 1982. He taught at Falmouth School of Art then taught photography for many years at the University of Plymouth where he is now emeritus Professor of Photography in the School of Art, Design and Architecture.[2][11]
Predominantly, "Southam's subject is the rural landscape of the South West of England, where he lives and works."[1] He conducts long-term studies of selected sites, that trace changes over seasons and even several years. His first project, in black and white, was The Floating Harbour: a Landscape History of Bristol City Docks (1977–84). All subsequent series are in colour and include Paintings of the West of Cornwall (1982–86); and The Long White Cloud, made in New Zealand at the end of 2018.[10] He uses an 8×10 large format view camera.[12]
Southam's work is held in the following permanent collections:
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