Photographer David Clifton-Strawn’s new book brings Atlanta arts community into focus

After more than two decades away from the lens, Atlanta photographer David Clifton-Strawn picked up a camera again — not to make art but to make sense of himself. He’d initially stopped photographing after losing his partner in the AIDS crisis and, later, his husband to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

As part of his recovery, a therapist suggested journaling, but, as Clifton-Strawn explains, “I really hate writing.” So he reached for a camera instead. 

“One night, I just started taking photographs of myself, just trying to figure out who I was again, trying to become reacquainted with my own image and to create a new sense of self.” 

From there, he began photographing friends. After remarrying and moving back to the city with Billy Clifton, he felt a powerful pull to reconnect with the art community he’d left behind. 

That impulse eventually grew into After a Long Intermission: Portraits from Atlanta’s Creative Community, a new book of 100 portraits published with support from the city of Atlanta. The project began in 2019 as a way for Clifton-Strawn to re-establish contact with other artists “after a long intermission.” It quickly expanded into a sweeping record of Atlanta’s creative ecosystem.

The finished book reflects the breadth of the city’s art scene. It includes prominent visual artists such as Michi Meko, Shanequa Gay and Kevin Cole, as well as a rich mix of creatives from other disciplines, including dancers, drag artists, writers, burlesque performers and actors. The portraits are set alongside figures who sustain the city’s arts ecosystem: gallerists Alan Avery, Susan Bridges and Yu-Kai Lin; longtime Executive Director of the city of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs Camille Love; and critic and ArtsATL cofounder Catherine Fox, whose portrait was recently acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia.

“The privilege of getting to sit with someone, one-on-one, is something I cherish,” Clifton-Strawn says. “I feel grateful to have had these encounters and the ability to document them all with a portrait.”

One of the most striking images is the cover portrait of High Museum curator Michael Rooks in a suit, watering the garden at Susan Bridges’ Whitespace Gallery. “Michael mentioned that when he wants to escape the business of the High, he’ll go over to Susan’s garden,” Clifton-Strawn says. “Sometimes, if he notices it needs watering, he’ll water it for her. So I asked him to pose there, in a suit, holding a hose. It was perfect.”

Clifton-Strawn’s approach to portraiture is always deeply conversational. Sessions often begin with an hour or more of conversation before he even picks up the camera, and many of the photographs were taken as discussions continued. “For me, the best pose is no pose,” he says. “I want to capture people as naturally as possible. My favorite thing is when friends see a picture and say, ‘Oh my God, he captured you perfectly. This is so you.’ Then I know I’ve done my job.”

What emerges across the pages isn’t just a set of individual portraits but a portrait of a community. “The thing that struck me was the diversity of artists we have here,” he says. “But more than that, the sense of community is pretty amazing. The way people show up for each other’s openings, the group shows, the collaborations. And there’s a real commitment to speaking directly to important social issues.”

The publication of After a Long Intermission might seem like a natural endpoint for the project, but Clifton-Strawn says he’s still making new portraits. He has his eye on both emerging artists and established figures who have helped shape Atlanta’s institutions. If the decades away from art were an “intermission,” his second act doubles as a portrait of Atlanta itself — a city captured in the moment it welcomed him back.

Where & When:

After a Long Intermission: Portraits from Atlanta’s Creative Community will be available starting September 25 at the Atlanta Art Fair (Alan Avery Art Company booth), at davidcliftonstrawn.com and through Atlanta Photography Group.
There will be a signing on September 27 at the Alan Avery Art Company booth from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

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Andrew Alexander is an Atlanta-based writer.