Today many small towns across the South embody the passage of time, and more specifically the qualities of impermanence and transience, all closely associated with melancholy. Ruins of old buildings induce a contemplative state of mind, suggestive of events and lives from past ages that have come to an end. These decaying structures leave behind only fragments of past lives and hints of history, enticing my imagination to reconstruct the missing stories.
People often say my work has a melancholic feeling. I feel it is a looking glass into time. As I have walked small towns over the last 25 years these places easily invite reflection or a pensive mood. The exciting side for me is it also sparks creativity. The feeling evoked is one of calm reflection, with the contrast between dark and light suggesting both loneliness and a feeling of hope. Accompanying this there might be a subtle longing for the stillness and quiet of the scene.
The melancholic response to a desolate town might arise from the setting combined with the recollection of my memories, a narrative of some kind. Often, as you will see in my work, the mirror of memories is replaced with the story of the artwork.
I have a sense for melancholy, and I have been able to enjoy the very distinctive pleasure it brings along. The result is that I am more in harmony with the past, and I can take cues from the landscape to create painterly photographs that capture a moment in time.
-Jim Newbury
Jim Newbury Artist Statement 2025
My photography reflects my own personal journey and experiences as I wander the small towns and streets of the South. I am a bit of a fisher, I observe, I try new spots, I wait for the right composition and light to bite. I am inspired by the work of Ernst Haas and Saul Leiter. I use colors and abstract forms to express the emotional landscape of our inner selves. Through my art, I hope viewers are intrigued to contemplate their own feelings and connect with the deeper layers of human experience.
Jim Newbury Artist Bio 2025
Born in 1954, Jim Newbury studied painting and drawing at the University of South Carolina. He went on to get his second degree at Ringling School of Art & Design where he fell in love with photography and design. His career was in the Ad Industry as a designer, art director and creative director. He won hundreds of prestigious advertising awards, including one of his Public Service Announcements for CARE that was inducted into the permanent archive of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. As the ad industry began to fade away around 2000, he launched into his street photography work. Though Jim has only entered his work in exhibitions twice, his photos have been featured in “Slow Exposures in 2011” and “South x Southeast 2025”.
