We formed Due South because though our accents may vary, the five of us keep talking about the same thing — where we’re from.
Making work about the American South can be nuanced, complex, rewarding, and at times painful, and we believe those are all conversations worth having. Together we are reading the classics, writing in the margins, and pressing forward.
Ashleigh Coleman
Ashleigh Coleman was born in the mountains of Virginia, reared in South Carolina, and for the last decade has lived in rural Mississippi. Through her work, she is looking for her way home, searching for peace in chaos.
In the meantime, her works have exhibited across the United States, including solo shows at the Fischer Galleries in Jackson, MS, the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture, and the Claire Elizabeth Gallery in New Orleans. Her work has shown at the Griffin Museum of Photography, the University of West Virginia, the University of Southern Mississippi, Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans, and in Looking for Appalachia’s traveling exhibition. She is the 2022 recipient of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters’ photography award.
When the Mississippi River once flooded the banks of a ghost town, Ashleigh kayaked to the site and waded through the waters to document the ruins of an abandoned church with her inherited Hasselblad.
Nurturing and inspirational, Ashleigh is our conscience.
38°00'31.0"N 78°27'12.6"W
David McCarty
Born into a family of Alabama coal miners, David McCarty now calls Jackson his home. In the ether of past and present, his use of instant film situates the image between the uncontrollable and precise. An inherent contradiction, David’s polaroids immortalize the forgotten.
David’s Polaroid work exhibited as part of Self-Processing — Instant Photography at the Ogden Museum, PhotoNOLA’s The Perpetual Instant, and AINT-BAD’s Instant Gratification. In 2015, he co-curated Best Before: Instant Photography by Southern Artists in Jackson, MS. His Polaroid diptych “Biloxi Hotel” is part of the Ogden’s permanent collection.
Ephemeral in their nature, David’s instant images are right at home on the pages of his newsprint publications — Dial 546, Population 1,181, Found on The Roadside Dead, and Electric City.
When David pulled over on the side of the road in Leake County, the ex-mayor rolled up, and an elderly woman across the way reported David as “a suspicious character.” The polaroid wasn’t even good, but David did get invited to church.
Passionate and protective, David is our heart.
33°33'18.0"N 86°54'19.9"W
Ellen Rodgers
Ellen Rodgers was born in the Mississippi Delta and grew up on the land her family has farmed for generations. Hasselblad in hand, Ellen builds a relationship with every person she meets — so that any portrait is more like a visit from a family member or an old friend.
Ellen attended the University of Mississippi and later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in photography. In 2017, Fischer Galleries in Jackson, Mississippi, mounted a major exhibition of her meditations on her home, Images from the Delta. As part of its 50 States of Art project, Vice featured Ellen to represent Mississippi. Her photographs illustrated Studio Jackson: Creative Culture in the Mississippi Capital, from Acadia Publishing. Ellen’s silver gelatin work was featured at M2 Gallery in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Ellen was once nearly shocked to death hopping a cattle fence in Copiah County in order to get a closer look at a live oak in a field of yellow flowers.
Loyal comic genius, Ellen is our spirit.
32°55'28.5"N 90°52'48.0"W
Ryan Steed
Grandson of a cotton farmer and son of a literature teacher and undercover cop, Ryan Steed has spent years exploring and rediscovering the American South. He unearths contradictions and hidden meanings with both his images and titles.
A Memphis-based photographer and educator, Ryan completed an MFA in Photography at Memphis College of Art. His work was most recently featured in Photography in Memphis at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. His solo exhibition, Went Out for Cigarettes, was held at The Cotton Museum in Memphis and featured images from the ongoing series. His work has been published by Oxford American, and he has exhibited work across the country, including Little Rock, Portland, Minneapolis, and Brooklyn.
Ryan believes in these as absolute truths:
• The Mississippi River is the only river that matters.
• Boots should be worn, not polished.
• His grandmother was a lady.
• All songs are either love songs or murder ballads.
On more than one occasion, Ryan's been peppered with shot in pursuit of an image.
Self sacrificing and genius idea generator, Ryan is our sage.
33°51'33.2"N 92°17'50.8"W
Katie Benjamin
Overflowing with creativity, Katie is our nervecenter.
34.2600° N, 88.6800° W
Katie grew up on a rural route in northeast Mississippi. She is a photographer, art director, and Due South’s lead creative. She’s spent the past decade working at creative agencies across the Mid-South.
Images from Examination in Pink: A Case Study, her series that examines gender equity, were featured in a solo show at Memphis College of Art, several group exhibitions, and belong in numerous private collections.
Her work frequently explores the conflicting space that exists between the past and the present in her Southern landscape.
