Birney Imes Photography

BIRNEY IMES, Mississippi, b. 1951 "Riverside Lounge, Shaw, 1986" Dimensions: Chromogenic print, 14" x 16.5" sight. Framed 21" x 25". 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. His work is exhibited in museums across the United States. Birney Imes III was born in 1951 in Columbus, Mississippi. His father, Vinton Birney Imes, Jr., owned the town newspaper, The Commercial Dispatch. His mother is Nancy McClanahan Imes. He attended desegregated public schools in Columbus and graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 1973. Growing up white in the South during the Civil Rights Movement helped shape his views on history and that is where his photography career originated from. Imes began photographing after graduation from college and is largely self-taught. In the mid-70s, 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, The Village Voice and Texas Monthly. His work has been printed in both black and white silver gelatin and color photos. Birney Imes’ photography takes viewers inside pool halls, jazz spots, juke joints and dilapidated restaurants scattered across that rural Mississippi landscape. Drawing inspiration from the photographs of other Southern artists...