Self-taught in photography, David Clifton-Strawn centers his work on portraiture, fine art, documentary and fashion – all of which lends a particular focus on his hometown, Atlanta, Georgia.
His work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. He is the 2022-23 recipient of the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs Emerging Artist Award in photography. He has exhibited across the US.
In all of his work, David focuses on the dignity, strength and resilience of individuals.
He finds Inspiration in the works of Yousuf Karsh, Katy Grannan, Herman Leonard, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Horst P. Horst, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe and Peter Hujar.
Statement:
For this series, I asked individuals from different segments of Atlanta’s LGBTQIA+ community to either come to my studio for a portrait/photoshoot or allow me to photograph them in their home. The resulting images are a mixture of traditional portraiture, staged scenes and documentary. In all the images there is an ambiguous narrative which is left to the viewer to contemplate and draw their own conclusions.
