Stax Museum announces new photography exhibit: The Americana Portrait Sessions: The Photography of Jeff Fasano

The Stax Museum announced today that it will host a new photography exhibit, Americana Portrait Sessions: The Photography of Jeff Fasano from August 4 through December 31, 2023, with an opening reception August 4, 6-8 pm.

Curated by photographer Jeff Fasano just for the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, this new exhibition features more than a dozen striking portraits of both legends and rising stars in Americana music. Join us for an opening reception and book signing on Friday, August 4, 2023 from 6 to 8pm.

Steve Cropper by Jeff Fasano.

Artist’s statement:
This is my very first photography book. It is a fine-art book that features images of nearly 200 iconic Americana musicians, songwriters, producers and pioneers. Americana Portrait Sessions also includes an essay on the origins and trajectory of Americana by Nashville music writer Edd Hurt, with a Foreword by Mary Gauthier.

It is lovingly curated and tells the story of one of the world’s greatest musical genres, AMERICANA. It’s the first photography book to take a comprehensive view of Americana and my unparalleled access to stars like Steve Cropper, Bettye Lavette, Jason Isbell, Rhiannon Giddens, Bobby Rush, and The War and Treaty that gives it the kind of authority that comes from vast experience. It’s a book of intimate portraits that reveals the strength, heart, soul and musical genius of these great artists.

Bobby Rush by Jeff Fasano.

The essence of a person is what I capture, and through my images, that essence is revealed to the world. Beneath the surface lies the beauty and elegance of the soul and the heart. It is both real and authentic. This is what comes through in my work. Just like the Americana artists who tell stories with their music, I tell stories with my photographs.

At the age of 40, I quit my job in the corporate world to create a new life and follow my dream and passion for photography. I have followed this path for 20+ years and it has taken me down many roads. A new door has opened on my path and it is this new project.