Mark Steinmetz resides in Athens, Georgia. He makes black and white photographs “of ordinary people in the ordinary landscapes they inhabit” and “in the midst of activity”. Most of his work has been made in the USA but also in Berlin, Paris, and Italy. His books combine portraits (portrait-like but spontaneous) and candid photos of people, and also include animals and still life photos.
Steinmetz always been fascinated by the democratic spaces at airports and by the idea of people being in the midst of a journey. The Atlanta airport, which he’s told is the world’s busiest airport, has travelers from across America and the entire world; it serves as a kind of purgatory for all of these people from disparate places and walks of life until they can board their planes. He’s also interested by the way planes look in flight, by jet trails and clouds, and by the world below as seen from planes.
The photos in ATL were made primarily between 2012 and 2019. He received some funding from the High Museum of Art to work on the project as part of his Picturing the South series, and the work was shown at the High Museum in 2018 under the title Terminus, which was the original name for Atlanta. Nazraeli Press (Paso Robles, CA) will be releasing the book, ATL, later this spring.
More on his website
