 Formed in late 2011, Southerly Gold is an ensemble of four working female photographers living in and inspired by the city of New Orleans. |
OUR MISSION Southerly Gold is a collective of four female photographers living and working in New Orleans, Louisiana. We are educators and travelers, artists and professionals. A desire to combine our diverse drive for the photographic medium lead us to create this forum— this platform for representation / presentation— this arena for dialogue with other women in our field. Here is where ideas and community come to fruition. Welcome. |
 UNTITLED Elena Ricci, New Orleans. Personal Work. |
 UNTITLED Akasha Rabut, Rock Springs, Wyoming. |
 UNTITLED Elena Ricci, Arizona. Personal Work. |
 PETER AND THE WOLF Aubrey Edwards, Austin, Texas. Promotional Work. |
 UNTITLED Ariya Martin, New Orleans, Hipstamatic Series. |
 SHARON JONES Aubrey Edwards, Bushwick, Brooklyn, for Under the Radar. |
 UNTITLED Ariya Martin, New Orleans, Hipstamatic Series. |
 UNTITLED Akasha Rabut, Big Sur, California. |
| OUTREACH We each incorporate photography and community into other facets of our daily life. Whether it is a donation of our time and expertise to a non-profit, or teaching the trade under the belief that arts education should be accessible by all populations. Here you'll find an array of side projects that we are intimately involved with and fully dedicated to. We encourage you to explore them. |
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 WHERE THEY AT The archive/exhibit "Where They At" documents pioneering New Orleans rappers from the 1980's, 1990's, and early 2000's, the period when bounce music melded and interplayed with lyrical hip-hop and gangsta rap in New Orleans to create a unique, hybrid Crescent City hip-hop sound – the newest branch of Southern roots music. Photographer Aubrey Edwards and journalist Alison Fensterstock, over the course of 18 months, photographed and interviewed more than 50 rappers, DJs, producers, label and record store owners from the New Orleans bounce and hip-hop music scene. This ongoing archive includes original portraits and interview excerpts, original video and audio, and collected artifacts including vintage records, tapes, scene snapshots and other ephemera. WHERETHEYATNOLA.COM |
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EXPOSURE EXPOSURE is community workshop taught 4 times a year by the members of Southerly Gold. EXPOSURE aims to provide the participants with a free 2 hour workshop that highlights the elements of exposure (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) while giving each student a greater understanding of using their SLR on complete manual mode. EXPOSURE falls within the collective's mission of sharing knowledge, creating a community forum, and making the arts accessible to a larger population. |
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| KID CAMERA PROJECT Ariya is the co-director of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, a grassroots community endeavor initially created to address the psychological and emotional impact of Hurricane Katrina on children returning home to New Orleans. Through the use of photography and creative writing, children explore their environment and learn skills to express themselves artistically. In doing so, KCP hopes to empower our young people to share their stories and to impact their lives and environments. Groups have been formed all over New Orleans and they range in age from six to eighteen; they are neighbors, cousins, new-found friends, brothers and sisters. Since its inception KCP has provided over 500 workshops to some 150 youth in as many as fifteen different communities located throughout the Gulf South. KIDCAMERAPROJECT.ORG |
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 CATALOGUECatalogue is a bi-monthly living listing of galleries and institutions that host monthly visual art shows in New Orleans. It is distributed in art spaces as well as shops, events and other places of local interest. Editors include mulit-discipline designer Erik Kiesewetter, arts administrator Tori Bush, marketing director Carrie Knopf and photographer Aubrey Edwards. WEARECONSTANCE.ORG |
 CONSTANCEAubrey volunteers as the education and outreach programming; organizing community accessible workshops taught by local artists. WEARECONSTANCE.ORG |
ADOPT-A-PET PORTRAITS Finding homes for shelter and foster pets can sometimes seem like an arduous and impossible task; so more and more organizations are utilizing the skills of professional photographers help portray animals in way that helps showcase their personalities, highlight their cuteness, and show prospective adopters a loving pet photographed outside the confines of a shelter cage. Aubrey has donated photographic services to Animal Rescue New Orleans, Urban Cat League, and most recently the Louisiana ASPCA. ANIMALRESCUENOLA.ORG LA-SPCA.ORG |
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DETROIT COLLECTIVE As a small creative collective based in New Orleans, we are dedicated to supporting New Orleans' creative communities and sustainability by cultivating methods of collaborative exchange with creative thinkers in Detroit. Through a range of programs, including an online platform for resource sharing, location visits, and creating an artist network, we aim to create a locus of exchange between the two contemporary art communities. |
 REFUGEE PORTRAIT SERVICES Since 2008, Aubrey has been providing free yearly portrait sessions for immigrants, refugees, and those seeking political asylum within the United States. She has partnered with the Texas Refugee Services in Austin, and presently works within the Community Services department at New Orleans' Catholic Charities. The purpose of the portrait service is to provide recent refugee individuals/families a free portrait session with complimentary prints and postage; the gifted photographs can be cherished as a document of their new lives in the United States, as well as mailed back to family and friends in their home country. |
 OCH ART MARKET The OCH Art Market take place once a month in Central City and hosts an array of activities, food, music and crafts, and offers local artists a chance to display and sell their original works. Family and pet friendly, the OCH Art Market strives to bring as sense of community and commerce to a historically recognized Cultural Products District in the heart of New Orleans. Elena's participation with the OCH Art Market involves everything from working one on one with artists and vendors to overseeing fun and artistic activities for both children and adults; it's an opportunity for both families and artists to come together in a creative atmosphere, as well as a chance for others to show and sell work in a casual environment. OCHARTMARKET.COM |
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 ONE BIRD Founded by Ariya and building upon the success of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, the non-profit One Bird was formed. Dedicated to community arts programs that work with children, in collaboration with their families and communities One Bird uses photography, writing, mixed media and emerging technologies, we teach our participants tangible skills that will assist them in sharing their stories and conveying their perspective, identity and culture. We work closelyty endeavor initially created to address the psychological and emotional impact of Hurricane Katrina on children returning home to New Orleans, The New Orleans Kid Camera Projects uses photography, creative writing children explore their environment and learn skills to express themselves artistically. with existing community organizations to increase community involvement and support project sustainability. Our work with kids in New Orleans consistently proves the power of our approach. The very act of creating is empowering and exciting, especially for people who have limited access to artistic tools. Documenting their experiences, and writing on a weekly basis allows participants to share their stories and express themselves. ONEBIRDPROJECTS.TUMBLR.COM |
 PROSPECT.2 The Education Department of the Prospect.2 Art Biennial organized the student biennial which features work made in response to and collaboration with various Prospect.2 artists as well as artwork from students throughout New Orleans. The student exhibit include a 16-panel mural created collaboratively by Prospect.2 artist Bruce Davenport and members of the Roots of Music Marching Crusaders band and photography by students from Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools, shot in the style of Prospect.2 artist Lorraine O'Grady and based on workshops with Ariya and The Kid Camera Project. The exhibit was displayed at the Prospect 2 Headquarters in January 2012. PROSPECTNEWORLEANS.ORG |
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| VETERANS PHOTO PROJECT Aubrey is the founder and primary instructor of the VPP; Veterans Photo Project serves as a holistic form of therapy that meet the needs of a diverse population in transitional housing shelters working to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction and criminal recidivism. VPP also works specifically with female outpatient groups suffering from PTSD. Through photography classes, our veterans will learn a new form of personal expression, develop technical and creative skills while having the therapeutic outlet to share their stories and experiences with a larger audience through their images. Partners have included Brooklyn's Doe Fund, the Louisiana Dept of Veteran Affairs, and the Greater New Orleans Area Volunteers of America Veterans Transitional Housing Shelter. VETERANSPHOTOPROJECT.ORG |
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| MEET THE LADIES Southerly Gold was formed just off of St. Charles Avenue in Uptown New Orleans, late 2011. We are old friends and new friends; have been living in this city for months or years, and make our proper living in a variety of ways. Most importantly, and overall, we are bound by our craft and our shared experiences of being a female photographer in a largely male-dominated field. |
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AKASHA RABUT Akasha Rabut spent her childhood living between Kauai and California; after graduating high school she received the Women's League Scholarship for her photography along with a Merit Scholarship from Otis Parsons College of Art and Design. Soon after completing her foundation year at Otis she transferred to the San Francisco Art Institute, where she received the continuing merit scholarship for 3 years and graduated with honors in 2007. Akasha has been involved in numerous group shows including Scion Presents by Juxtapose Magazine, The Enormous Tiny Art Show and Still Lights Gallery. Her work has been featured in different art publications such as Vice, Beautiful Decay, Design For Mankind, Fecalface.com, Milkmade.com and Notcommonpeople.com. She is a member of the photography department at The Historic New Orleans Collection and works full time as a freelance photographer. She has a client list that is growing and includes Adidas, Aritzia, Bare Escentuals, Hayden Harnett,Kenneth Cole and Ponder Knitwear. Her latest work is a documentary project working with Medical Anthropoligist Nick Shapiro. This body of work will be a collection of images about tracking the illegal resale of the Fema trailers to every corner of the country. |
ONLINE AKASHA RABUT CONTACT +1 415 699 3862 RESUME / CV DOWNLOAD PROFICIENCIES medium format, 35 mm, 4x5, Polaroid, digital,on-location lighting, ambient lighting, fashion, portraiture, life style, commercial campaigns, editorial, photo journalism. |
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 EVERYDAY My work is rooted in documentary. This is a collection of images from my personal work that began in 2008 and is currently an ongoing project. These images are candid and document my experiences with relationships and the world. 10 IMAGES IN THE SERIES Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Image 5 Image 6 Image 7 Image 8 Image 9 Image 10 |
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ARIYA MARTIN Ariya Martin received her Masters of Fine Arts in Imaging Arts-Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Born in Rochester, NY she worked at significant photographic institutions such as the George Eastman House and Kodak. A resident of New Orleans, Louisiana since 2006 she Co-directs The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, a project initially created to help children express themselves through photography and writing after Hurricane Katrina, and teaches photography at The University of New Orleans as Artist in Residence. The Kid Camera Project has taken her as far as India to conduct photography workshops for Tibetan refugees. She was named one of Gambit's 40 under 40 and recognized by Social Entrepreneurs of New Orleans for courageous social innovation in her work with the project. Her photography has been published and her artwork (image, moving image, sound and text) has been exhibited internationally. |
ONLINE ARIYA MARTIN POST/MEDIUM KID CAMERA PROJECT CONTACT +1 585 278 7466 RESUME / CV DOWNLOAD PROFICIENCIES medium format, 35 mm, 4x5, Polaroid, digital, studio lighting, video editing (iMovie 11, Final Cut Pro) darkroom (processing, printing, toning) scanning, grant writing, community arts organizing, photography instruction for all ages, curatorial services, art handling and installation. |
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 WHAT REMAINS The photographs in this series are a small selection of a larger body of work documenting visits to my grandfather's house the year after his death. With the prospect of his house selling, and the realization that all the objects and memorabilia I had grown up would be thrown out or given away, these images are what remains. 9 IMAGES IN THE SERIES WHAT REMAINS Image 2 WHAT REMAINS Image 3 WHAT REMAINS Image 4 WHAT REMAINS Image 5 WHAT REMAINS Image 6 WHAT REMAINS Image 7 WHAT REMAINS Image 8 WHAT REMAINS Image 9 |
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AUBREY EDWARDS Aubrey Edwards is (primarily) a portrait photographer and educator, working regularly out of state and country. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism for the University of Texas, and an Associate of Applied Science of Photography from Austin Community College. Aubrey was an award-winning, primary music photographer for the alt-weekly Austin Chronicle from 2004-2008; her present client list includes the United Nations, Magnolia Pictures, Playboy, SPIN, XXL and Comedy Central. She has taught photography and videography in low-income NYC public schools as well as continuing adult education; she is the founder of the Veterans Photo Project, providing therapeutic photo workshops to homeless veterans in Brooklyn and New Orleans. She exhibited her collaborative archive, Where They At: New Orleans Bounce and Hip Hop in Words and Pictures, at the Smithsonian-affiliated Ogden Museum of Southern Art, has traveled it through the US, and recently showed the archive at Berlin's Direktorenhaus. In 2011 Edwards completed an international artist residency, with funding from Singapore's National Arts Council, photographing and collecting oral histories within the country's transgendered community. |
ONLINE AUBREY EDWARDS WHERE THEY AT VETERANS PHOTO PROJECT BLOG CONTACT +1 512 203 5054 RESUME / CV DOWNLOAD PROFICIENCIES 4x5, medium format, 35 mm, Polaroid, digital, (on-location) studio lighting, darkroom (processing,printing), portraiture, fashion, commercial campaigns, art handling and installation, in-school workshops, adult private lessons, curriculum development, curatorial services, community arts organizing and development. |
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 BIG RIVER Mississippi comes from the Ojibwe words gichi-ziibi and misi-ziibi, meaning Big River and Great River. Big River is a series shot entirely on the banks of the Mississippi River in 5 different areas of the Greater New Orleans region, over the course of 3 months. It comprises portraits, landscape imagery and found objects, together giving their audience an understanding of a community and culture depending and thriving on the river. 10 IMAGES IN THE SERIES BIG RIVER Image 2 BIG RIVER Image 3 BIG RIVER Image 4 BIG RIVER Image 5 BIG RIVER Image 6 BIG RIVER Image 7 BIG RIVER Image 8 BIG RIVER Image 9 BIG RIVER Image 10 |
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ELENA RICCI Elena Ricci is a fine art photographer currently living in New Orleans. Originally from Massachusetts, Elena attended the New England School of Photography and graduated with honors in 2010. During her time in Boston, her work was part of both group and individual shows including but not limited to Via Matta's Enoteca: F.A.M.E., the Rubin-Frankel Gallery's Realization of Dreams and the Garner Center's Wish You Here: Pictures from Home. Post graduation, she has worked as the assistant to a prominent corporate photographer, worked as a teaching assistant at her alma mater, and most recently worked as an archivist photographing the John Adams Collection at the Boston Public Library. In addition to her personal projects, Elena has been commissioned for her fine art work as well her corporate photography by clients such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since her move to New Orleans in the spring of 2011, Elena has participated in numerous group projects and shows. She currently works with the O.C.H. Art Market and O.C.H. Gallery to bring the central city neighborhood together through art and commerce. Elena is continually photographing and expanding her personal bodies of work, selections of which have been exhibited at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. |
ONLINE ELENA RICCI BLOG CONTACT +1 978 844 2038 RESUME / CV DOWNLOAD PROFICIENCIES 4X5, medium format, 35mm, digital, Photoshop, alternative processes C-41 printing, black and white developing and processing, matting, mounting, framing, fine art, interiors, still life, landscape. |
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 COLOR As a continued personal project, I photograph small moments and mundane objects. Using color film helps to naturally mute colors and contrast, allowing me to capture the image as quietly as it is found. 7 IMAGES IN THE SERIES COLOR Image 2 COLOR Image 3 COLOR Image 4 COLOR Image 5 COLOR Image 6 COLOR Image 7 |
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