Photographic Services
I work as a Conservation Photographer. This is one of the fastest growing most dynamic fields of art in the world, but I work in the Southeast and in Alabama. Conservation photography has a long life span, it does not become outdated, it only becomes more valuable over time. The value of conservation photography is not only tied to the success or failure of protection for an area, it is tied to the very identity of that place.
I like to work with corporate clients on projects where I create an identity for an area. For these projects I will estimate a flat fee including expenses and an assistant. There are no surprise expenses and I can work until the project is completed to my satisfaction. Some examples of ways I work with corporations are as follows:
- Red Mountain Bank and connecting the image of the bank to beautiful photographs of some of the local natural resources,
- International Paper and their conservation legacy,
- The Nature Conservancy and lands they protect,
- Hancock Timber Resource Group and their Sensitive Lands Program,
- Outdoor Investment Company and the large acreage lands they have for sale.
- Trussville Springs and their new urbanist development in Trussville, AL
Please refer to the news page (http://www.kingfishereditions.com/news/) to see the results of some of these projects.
Recent Work
I also work through a non-profit organization called the Watershed Identity Foundation to fund photography for environmental work and projects such as the Headwaters book or the Longleaf Pine book.
Biography
Beth Maynor Young is an accomplished conservation photographer who has spent much of her life chronicling the natural beauty and remnant wild places of the contemporary South. In 1990, she founded Cahaba River Publishing, a conservation-motivated firm that supports her life's passion—nature and landscape photography. Today, Beth’s photographs give us a moving vision of the natural world and speak quietly yet deeply of our need to preserve the South's unique environmental heritage.
Beth has many years of experience shooting journalism and corporate photography. She began her photography career at Southern Progress Corp., the publishers of Southern Living, Progressive Farmer, Southern Accents, Oxmoor House Books and at the time, Creative Ideas. Beth began by photographing gardens, but soon photographed for every department and publication in the company. After ten years at Southern Progress, she left to become a freelance photographer. She took on a wide variety of jobs for magazines, construction companies, remodeling businesses, college view books, trucking firms, window companies, lighting companies, real estate firms and forestry initiatives. She co-authored a book with Norman Johnson, Everyday Flowers published by Longstreet Press in 1990. Beth grew the flowers at her farm in Chelsea and photographed them, while Norman arranged the flowers and wrote the text.
Conservation Photography
In late 1988 the Cahaba River Society was formed to protect the Cahaba River, but no one knew what it looked like. Members of the society asked Beth if she would be interested in photographing the river. “Little did I know that when I agreed to this project it would lead to so many profound changes in my life,” she said. What began as a way to thank funders for contributions to the Cahaba River Society with a nice notecard soon evolved into a corporate program where Beth would photograph natural areas or rivers where the corporation had an environmental involvement. She would then create notecards and fine art photographs for the company’s use. Conservation photography is now becoming a fast growing field of art.
The Fire
Beth was working during this time on her own interests in conservation, and had just begun discussions with one of her clients about a photography book on the rivers of the Southeast when her office burned down. She said, “There was no roof left on the building. The miracle is that the only thing that survived the fire was the portfolio of river negatives—the most important and the most fragile thing in the office—which was in the top drawer of a filing cabinet. The file folders had smoke stains surrounding the contents, but the files were so full that neither air, nor water, nor fire, could get inside. So the negatives were protected. I’m grateful for what I believe to be divine intervention—I could not afford a new filing cabinet!”
Digital Photography
Photography was making a switch to digital and Beth switched as well. The new digital technology not only enabled her to salvage a large portion of her river photography, but also created many new opportunities. With her lights, large format cameras, and corporate portfolio gone, she now turned her full attention to conservation photography—in particular, a book on the rivers of Alabama—with funding support from a small non-profit.
Notecards
The Kingfisher Editions notecard collection places some of Beth's work in the public marketplace for the first time. The images are mostly from unprotected places—each with its own story of biological compromise and imminent threat. But these places also embrace a Southern tradition—of being saved and preserved, of restoration and resurrection.
Fine Art Photographs
Beth is now printing her fine art photographs with Epson Giclee printers, which offer brilliant colors and truly archival prints. Sadly, with the current threats to streams and wildlife habitats that come from urban sprawl and over-development, her photographs may last longer than many of the places she has photographed. Beth's hope is that her images will remind us of the irreplaceable value of these unique natural places and stimulate a desire for action on their behalf.
Books
Descending the Rivers of Alabama is the working title of a book on the rivers of Alabama that Beth has been photographing since before 2000. It is written by John C. Hall, Ph.D. Hall tells the ancient story of Alabama with science, history, and wit. This book is currently scheduled for publication in the fall of 2008, by the University of Alabama Press.
A Permanent Stand; The Conservation Legacy of International Paper. International Paper made a corporate decision to sell their lands. Thousands of acres went for conservation sales. In the summer of 2006, Beth and her son Spence Maynor were hired to photograph a book on this incredible conservation legacy. It took them all across the country to some truly wild, wet, and wonderful places that will now be protected in perpetuity. IP created a book and a calendar of Beth’s photographs. The first fine art prints from this historic shoot are now part of IP’s corporate art collection at the headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee.
Longleaf Pine: The FireForest. Beth’s next large project is the story of the longleaf pine forest with Rhett Johnson, the co-founder for the Longleaf Alliance. She is photographing this with her son, Bill Maynor.
Exhibits for 2007
Birmingham, Alabama:
Maralyn Wilson Gallery, Oct. 5 to Nov. 5
McWane Science Center, Feb 2007 to current
Montgomery, Alabama:
Alabama State Council for the Arts, May to July 15
Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, May to July 8
Atlanta, Georgia:
LimeTree Gallery with Michael Clay, Oct. 4 to Oct. 18
Art Collections
Beth’s conservation photography is part of many private and corporate art collections across the country. Her renown and popularity is a testament to the importance of environmental issues and the caliber of her photography.
Family
Beth is married to Frank M. Young III, a corporate and international attorney in Birmingham with Haskell Slaughter Young & Rediker. She lives in Birmingham and has a wonderful office and gallery in the basement of their home on Shades Mountain. Her sons Spence and Bill Maynor have graduated from college and are working in the Birmingham area. She has two brothers who own Buccaneer Rope, a rope-manufacturing business they built from scratch, located on Skyline Mountain near Scottsboro, Alabama, on the Tennessee River.