Uploaded April 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Shane Lavalette is raising funds for his photography project. In order to receive contributions, the project must be funded in full by June 22, 2012. To help: kickstarter.com/projects/lavalette/picturing-the-south-a-photobook
From Shane: In 2010 I was commissioned by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta to create a new body of photographs for their "Picturing the South" series, which includes past artists Sally Mann, Emmet Gowin, Richard Misrach, Dawoud Bey, Alex Webb and Alec Soth. I'm honored to be amongst these artists, and look forward to exhibiting new work with photographers Martin Parr and Kael Alford in June of 2012.
Having grown up in the Northeast, it was primarily through traditional music—old time, blues, gospel, etc.—that I had formed a relationship with the South. With that in mind, the region's rich musical history became the natural entry point for my work. I was not interested in making a documentary about Southern music today, but desired to explore the relationship between traditional music and the contemporary landscape through a more poetic lens. Moved by the themes and stories past down in songs, I let the music itself carry the pictures.
Two years later, with the project now complete, I have begun working on a mock-up of a book which I believe is the ideal venue for this body of work. From the beginning I imagined this project in book form. With your help, I hope to make this book physical in the coming months.
-- Shane Lavalette
Artist Bio: Shane Lavalette (b. 1987, Burlington, VT) is an American photographer currently living in Upstate New York. He received his BFA from Tufts University in partnership with The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Lavalette's photographs have been shown widely, including exhibitions at the High Museum of Art, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Aperture Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, The Carpenter Center for Visual Arts at Harvard University, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Musée de l'Elysée, among others. His editorial work has been published in various magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Vice Magazine, Pig Magazine, CODE and SLASH.
Find his work online at shanelavalette.com
Photographer Captures Sounds of the South, CNN Photos, April 23, 2012: cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/23/photographer-captures-sounds-of-the-south
Interview with Shane Lavalette, Juror's Pick, 2011 Daylight/CDS Photo Awards Work-in-Process Prize, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, Jan. 6, 2012: cdsporch.org/archives/9091
Shane Lavalette is a photographer, the Publisher and Editor of Lay Flat, as well as the Associate Director of Light Work. Lavalette currently lives and works in Upstate New York.
layflat.org
lightwork.org
Shane Lavalette is raising funds for his photography project. In order to receive contributions, the project must be funded in full by June 22, 2012. To help: kickstarter.com/projects/lavalette/picturing-the-south-a-photobook
From Shane: In 2010 I was commissioned by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta to create a new body of photographs for their "Picturing the South" series, which includes past artists Sally Mann, Emmet Gowin, Richard Misrach, Dawoud Bey, Alex Webb and Alec Soth. I'm honored to be amongst these artists, and look forward to exhibiting new work with photographers Martin Parr and Kael Alford in June of 2012.
Having grown up in the Northeast, it was primarily through traditional music—old time, blues, gospel, etc.—that I had formed a relationship with the South. With that in mind, the region's rich musical history became the natural entry point for my work. I was not interested in making a documentary about Southern music today, but desired to explore the relationship between traditional music and the contemporary landscape through a more poetic lens. Moved by the themes and stories past down in songs, I let the music itself carry the pictures.
Two years later, with the project now complete, I have begun working on a mock-up of a book which I believe is the ideal venue for this body of work. From the beginning I imagined this project in book form. With your help, I hope to make this book physical in the coming months.
-- Shane Lavalette
Artist Bio: Shane Lavalette (b. 1987, Burlington, VT) is an American photographer currently living in Upstate New York. He received his BFA from Tufts University in partnership with The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Lavalette's photographs have been shown widely, including exhibitions at the High Museum of Art, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Aperture Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, The Carpenter Center for Visual Arts at Harvard University, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Musée de l'Elysée, among others. His editorial work has been published in various magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Vice Magazine, Pig Magazine, CODE and SLASH.
Find his work online at shanelavalette.com
Photographer Captures Sounds of the South, CNN Photos, April 23, 2012: cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/23/photographer-captures-sounds-of-the-south
Interview with Shane Lavalette, Juror's Pick, 2011 Daylight/CDS Photo Awards Work-in-Process Prize, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, Jan. 6, 2012: cdsporch.org/archives/9091
Shane Lavalette is a photographer, the Publisher and Editor of Lay Flat, as well as the Associate Director of Light Work. Lavalette currently lives and works in Upstate New York.
layflat.org
lightwork.org
