Late last month, the Garden & Gun team released Southern Women, their fifth publication. After working on this project for almost two years, SPD chatted with Garden & Gun’s Photography and Visuals Director, Maggie Kennedy about how the book came together.

SPD: Tell us about Southern Women.
Maggie Kennedy, Photography and Visuals Director: Southern Women: More than 100 Stories of Innovators, Artists, and Icons from the editors of Garden & Gun is the fifth publication in our series of books. It highlights remarkable chefs, musicians, actors, writers, artists, entrepreneurs, designers, social activists and public officials to offer a dynamic portrait of who the Southern woman is today. Over 200 pages of essays, interviews, photos and illustrations of the modern Southern woman between the ages of eight and ninety-eight. '

As we say in the book, “For too long, the Southern woman has been synonymous with the Southern belle, a ‘moonlight and magnolias’ myth that gets nowhere close to describing the strong, richly diverse women who have thrived because of–and, in some cases, despite of–the South.”

SPD: Why did Garden & Gun decide to release this new book? What was the brainstorming process like?
MK: Even though this book was almost two years in the making, it had really been developing organically since the early years of G&G. The magazine first dedicated a cover package to the stories of Southern women in our August/September 2011 issue. G&G contributing author Allison Glock wrote that feature’s opening essay which has generated more response than any other work she’s published in almost a thirty-year career. The continued passion on the subject led our editors to explore the best way to honor the strong and richly diverse women of our region.

G&G Editor-in-Chief David DiBenedetto and Amanda Heckert – deputy editor of the magazine and the editor of Southern Women– spent countless hours curating the diverse mix of potential subjects for the book. It was important to cast a wide net in order to survey women from various backgrounds for suggestions of who best to include in the project. We wanted to build layers into the chapters to allow each woman’s voice and image to engage the reader rather than just repeating a basic profile after profile. Through essays, odes, interviews, conversations, etc. that strong mix of subject matter Dave and Amanda were after came together.

Once the editorial structure was in place, it then became a big puzzle visually. Talented G&G photo editor Margaret Houston played a tremendous role orchestrating many details once shoots started coming together. Also, art director Julia Knetzer worked with a few artists to achieve a nice balance of illustration woven throughout the chapters.

SPD: This book is almost two years in the making. How did you juggle this project with your daily duties as the Photography and Visuals Director of Garden & Gun?
MK: Unlike the fast turnaround required for each issue of the magazine, this book project had a longer production time. Everything didn’t have to happen next week! We worked on the book shoots as the subjects were coming together editorially as well as when our regular photo schedules and deadlines allowed. We had the opportunity to take a breath and really think visually how best to capture these women in their world.

SPD: A few years ago, G&G released The Southerner’s Cookbook, which you also worked on. What were the differences and similarities to producing Southern Women?
MK: G&G published The Southerner’s Cookbook in 2015. I spent many years in the food photography world so it was a lot of fun to oversee photography for that book and bridge my previous experience into my G&G life. All of the cookbook photography happened within a two to three week timeframe with one photographer and crew. Southern Women dealt with multiple shooters over many months, varying production needs, budgets, contracts, paperwork, etc. Our spreadsheets had spreadsheets!

Similarly, both books were photo heavy projects so chapter pacing was an important factor. And staying true to the G&G brand visually. Storyboarding throughout the process for both books was crucial and a lot of fun to see it all come together. Also, whether a book is 100 photos of recipes or 100 portraits, paying attention to styling, pacing, variety of camera angles, scale, etc. was critical.

SPD: There’s a mix of portraits from past G&G issues as well as new shoots specifically for the book. What was the process of selecting past portraits to include?
MK: Yes, the book photography was a combination of original shoots for the book, portraits previously featured in the magazine, and supplied images from photographers and stock. We looked at those past portraits as the new shoots were developing to see how everything worked together visually in each chapter. It was a nice opportunity to revisit those past shoots and potentially run an outtake or two. Photographer Nigel Parry’s portrait of actress Danielle Brooks is a good example. I loved that shoot and how it ran in the magazine but there was one photo that I knew I wanted to include in the book that was always a favorite of mine.

Also, I spent a lot of time thinking about the very first photo readers would see in the front of the book. How do you choose one single image to represent this entire book about women as well as G&G? Photographer Linda Foard Roberts’ magnolia cover from our April/May 2018 issue worked beautifully. This Southern flower on its own is elegant and strong but in this image, not perfect or too precious. Not a cliché.

SPD: How many new shoots did you do for Southern Women? What was the planning process like?
MK: The count was just shy of 45 new shoots. I knew it was important to capture these women in their world. Honor their personality, strength, and wisdom in a portrait most representative of who they are and how they are contributing to their industry. More personal than formal and taking cues from their interviews or essays in the book.

One example is WWE superstar Ashley Fliehr, known to her wrestling fans as Charlotte Flair. She is the daughter of legendary wrestler Rick Flair. Her interview talks about growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina and how much time she spent playacting in the playhouse her father built for her in their backyard. I decided we absolutely had to photograph her with his playhouse. Ashley of course hadn’t lived there since she was a child and we learned the house had just sold a few weeks earlier. After tracking down the realtor, the new owners, convincing the remodeling crew to not tear anything down yet, the photo shoot miraculously happened. This portrait and interview is about Ashley as a Southern woman so no costumes or wrestling gear required.

SPD: Can you tell us about some of your favorite photographers that you worked with this time?
MK: So many great photographers contributed to this book! We worked with some of our regular contributors as well as had the opportunity to partner with some great new shooters. Nigel Parry, Kate T. Parker, David McClister, William Hereford, Melanie Acevedo, Eric Ryan Anderson, and on and on.

SPD: What are some of your favorite photos in the book?
MK: Photographer Nigel Parry’s dynamic portraits of actress Danielle Brooks. Originally taken for our February/March 2018 issue, I was thrilled to include a few portraits of her in the book. The lead photo in the first chapter of the book, Performers & Players, is a favorite outtake from the original shoot (seen above). In addition, we needed a great shot opposite the title page in the front of the book. Something that announced all of these strong powerful women to come. This portrait of Danielle could not have worked out more perfectly!

Some other favorites below:

Photographer Willie Anne Wright by Michael JN Bowles

Musician Quiana Parler by Gately Williams

Fashion designer Lela Rose by William Hereford

Culinary legend Nathalie Dupree by Sully Sullivan

Businesswomen Darla Moore by Sully Sullivan

SPD: What’s next for Garden & Gun?
MK: I absolutely love working on book projects so hopefully more in my future. We’ll all just have to wait and see…

Behind the Scenes

Garden & Gun's Southern Women with Photography and Visuals Director, Maggie Kennedy

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