More from the Lewis Communications office in Mobile with architecture by Chambless King Architects. In a previous century, the building was an auto showroom. Today, it’s the most enviable office I have ever photographed.
Lewis Communications office in Mobile, Alabama. Architecture and design by @chamblesskingarchitects . This is one of those projects that checks all the boxes for me. It must have also for the judges at AIA Birmingham’s design awards, who gave it a 2026 Honor Award. Well deserved! 👏🏼
Today I’m proud to announce the launch of Daybreak Directory. (Link in bio)
It shouldn’t be hard to be found online without social media in 2025, but it is. For photographers and creatives, Instagram has become the default place to post work and get discovered. But over the last couple of years, it’s really lost its shine.
Daybreak gives commercial photographers a new place to be found—off social media.
The site currently features 80 photographers from across North America and around the world.
If you’re a commercial photographer: Join us via the link on the site. If you hire photographers: Come find your next collaborator on Daybreak.
daybreakdirectory.com
Architecture by Chambless King Architects.
Anniston Rehab. Architecture and Interiors by Birchfield Penuel Architects. Because I’m a photographer, wherever I go, I’m always attuned to the light. It’s rare to find good light in commercial buildings because they have so many other requirements in the design and construction. So I was delighted when I walked into this rehab facility in Anniston to see so many light-filled spaces. Not just as a photographer, but as a human spending a day inside there. Good light matters!
Custom steel door by @blackshop_bham with @fritsjurgens hardware at the @pfeffertorode office in Birmingham. 🔥
Hero Donuts in Homewood. Architecture and Interior Design by Chambless King Architects. There’s nothing bad on the menu but the best is the burger.
The Auburn University Early Learning Center, a transformation from the former campus police station to a lively place to educate future educators (and right in the shadow of Jordan-Hare). Architecture and design by Birchfield Penuel Architects.
Fortif Law Office in Birmingham, Alabama. Architecture by Design Initiative. I just loved the renovation of this beautiful old building into a modern office. With no windows along the side walls, the design decisions that bring so much natural light to both top and middle floors while retaining the functionality of a law office is really clever. Plus, those ancient posts and beams cut from the original timber of this land are things of beauty. Getting to experience spaces like this one firsthand is one of the best perks of photographing architecture.
The Albertville Tennis Center at Sand Mountain Park on a blazing hot summer day. Architecture by Chambless King Architects.
BPA Office by Birchfield Penuel Architects. This project won an AIA Honor Award in 2024. The transformation of this building from a nondescript facade to the most remarkable building on the street is…well, remarkable. It makes me happy every time I drive by it. The interior is just as great as the exterior! Thanks to @ltaylordixon for bringing me on to capture it and staying late to get the jack-o-lantern shot. If you want to read about the project (with befores and afters), visit the AIA Birmingham website and look at the Design Awards 2024. It’ll blow your mind.
Supertone. Architecture by David Baker Architects. A fitness space as Tron as you’ll find anywhere in America.
Last night Kaylee and I got to celebrate the great architecture in our city at the AIA Birmingham awards banquet. Photographing some of the designs which shape the public and private spaces in which we live, work, and play has been great fun and a real honor. IMO this was the most badass submission.
The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. For the final post in this series, here is Andrea Pettway with her quilt. Andrea told us that she usually quilts with old denim. One of the coolest parts of the project was seeing how these artists adapted their styles to the Dedar fabric. I think this is a particularly beautiful example. Like the others, this quilt is on display at the Venice Biennale of Architecture through November. #uspavilion2025 #geesbend
The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. This quilt was made by Emma Mooney Pettway for the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Fabric is by Dedar Milan. #uspavilion2025 #geesbend
The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. This is Jennifer Williams, displaying quilt made by her mother, Sharon Williams. We photographed Jennifer at the end of this idyllic road in Boykin with cows munching pasture grass just behind where I stood photographing her. #uspavilion2025 #geesbend
The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. This is a quilt by Cathey Mooney and is currently on display at the American Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale. The project was directed by @stephenburksmanmade with fabric from @dedarmilano. I with y’all could hear Cathey humming the gospel while she worked. I’m grateful to have been able to capture such a rich collaboration.
The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. This is Lua Ida McCloud on her front porch in Boykin, AL. The American Pavilion at the Venice Bienniale is all about The Porch as a place of gathering, welcoming, and, in the case of these women, quilting. #venicebiennale #uspavilion2025 #geesbend
The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. This is Mary Margaret Pettway working the edge of her quilt in the dogtrot at the old Gee’s Bend ferry port. The image above in the third photo is credited to Edith Morgan, circa 1900 (thanks to @carynorton and @jaredragland for the detective work). Mary Margaret’s quilt is currently on display at the American Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale of Architecture. #venicebiennale #uspavilion2025 #geesbend
The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. This is Dorris Pettway’s quilt, also made with Dedar fabric and in collaboration with Stephen Burks Man Made. The second frame is Dorris, working on her quilt at the Gee’s Bend museum which is located in the old ferry port. This quilt is currently on display at the American Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale of Architecture. #venicebiennale #uspavilion2025 #geesbend
The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. This is Tinnie Pettway, the matriarch of the Gee’s Bend Quilters. I photographed her at home in Boykin, AL as she finished this quilt, which is currently on display at the American Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale of Architecture.