Christy Bush

Twin Swans, 2022

Christy Bush Biography Christy Bush (b. 1970) is an Athens, Georgia-based artist whose intimate portraiture spans more than three decades of fashion, celebrity, and fine art photography. Christy’s photographs are rooted in the South, infused with the raw energy of music culture, shaping her ability to capture both vulnerability and glamour. Her distinctive Southern sensibility informs projects ranging from fashion editorials for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar to documenting family, friends, and cultural figures. Known for her unflinching approach, she transforms personal relationships into powerful visual narratives, returning to her subjects over time to reveal the subtle but profound effects of change. Her notable series Soundtrack to Nothing, Jackson, and Familiar each explore themes of adolescence, intimacy, and memory, cementing her place as a vital voice in contemporary Southern photography. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1970, Christy Bush came of age in the city’s punk rock scene before pursuing photography at the University of Georgia. Immersed in Athens’ legendary creative and music community, she began documenting its dynamic culture in the early 1990s. She earned her BFA in Photography from UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art in 1993 before relocating to New York City, where she lived and worked for fifteen years. There, she developed a prestigious client roster that included W, Interview, and Harper’s Bazaar, refining the direct and intimate style that has defined her photographs ever since. Bush’s first monograph, Familiar: 30 Years of Photographs (Bitter Southerner Press, 2022), features a foreword by R.E.M.’s frontman Michael Stipe and brings together her life’s work in fashion, music, and portraiture. The book, which weaves 35mm and medium format negatives with Polaroids and digital photographs, received acclaim in Women’s Wear Daily, The Guardian, and Aesthetica. In addition to her fine art practice, Bush continues to collaborate with musicians, actors, and cultural figures, creating portraits of Jason Isbell (Bitter Southerner), Molly Ringwald (Australia's Lovewant Magazine), Maya Hawke (London's Puss Puss Magazine), and Michael Shannon (London’s Luncheon Magazine). Christy Bush has been exhibited internationally in New York, Atlanta, Savannah, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, and Tokyo. Her work is also represented in numerous private collections. At Jackson Fine Art, her work has been featured in multiple exhibitions, most recently Familiar in 2022, which highlighted her decades-long practice of blending fashion, celebrity, and Southern identity through photography.