Bill Steber
Jimmy and Friend
2020

About the Item

Tennessee-native photographer Bill Steber has documented blues culture in Mississippi for the last 20 years. He chronicles the state's blues musicians, juke joints, churches, river baptisms, hoodoo practitioners, traditional farming methods, folk traditions, and other significant traditions that gave birth to or influenced the blues. The work has been displayed in his exhibit "Stones in my Pathway" as well as in the pages of Living Blues magazine, among other publications. Originally from Centerville, TN, Steber's interest in photography began in elementary school when he used one of his father's cameras, resulting in his first published photo at age 11. After attaining degrees in photography and English from Middle Tennessee State University, Steber spent the next 15 years making a name for himself in journalism, working as a staff photojournalist for the Tennessean in Nashville. He received multiple regional and national awards while shooting everything from national politics to New York runway fashion and the Super Bowl. His latest passion is exploring 21st-century American culture through the use of 19th-century wet plate photography, including tintypes, ambrotypes, and glass negatives. In addition to his photography, Steber makes music with The Jake Leg Stompers, the Hoodoo Men, The Jericho Road Show, and The Worried Minds. Currently, Steber is a freelance photographer living in Murfreesboro, TN. His editorial work is published in regional, national and international magazines. He plans to publish four books from the Mississippi Blues Project, combining the still photos with extensive interviews, writings, audio, and video collected in the field to create a comprehensive survey of Mississippi blues culture that represents more than a decade of the region's history.

Creator:

Bill Steber

Creation Year:

2020

Dimensions:

Height: 31.5 in (80.01 cm)Width: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)

Medium:

Silver Gelatin

Period:

2010-

Condition:

Gallery Location: