Jackson Free Press

Then, she pursued Madonna, JFK Jr., the New York Yankees and the beautiful people at the Cannes Film Festival. Now, it's the Sweet Potato Queens and congressional candidates at the Neshoba County Fair. Photographer and New Yorker-turned-Jacksonian Suzi Altman knows who she wants to shoot and how to chase them down, sometimes wearing a "Girls Kick Ass" T-shirt. "I am quick, little and determined," said the 5-foot-3 Altman.

Three years ago, Altman gave up the New York City creative life to move to Jackson. She visited here with friends and met her soon-to-be life partner. Altman was ready to trade in the tiny $1,500 fifth-floor walk-up apartment with no air conditioning for a place where "a dog, a car and a house cost less than rent (in New York City)." Now the couple is moving into a home on two-and-a-half acres in Brandon. (Her mother visited from Long Island and simply exclaimed, "Omigod!" when she saw the size of the spread.) "Jackson is a much more tolerant and artistic community than I expected. It's not always so obvious," says Altman, who attends Beth Israel Temple here. (Her partner, Nancy, isn't Jewish, but did give Altman a "Shalom Y'all" T-shirt.) The only thing missing here, Altman said, is a good New York-style pizza place.

Moving to Jackson has also helped Altman's career. "It's much easier to be a New York photographer here," she said. "Here I'm the one." She works with news agencies and commercial clients, and finds time for her more artistic work. On Sept. 11, the Mississippi Museum of Art unveiled a collection of her color photographs taken the weeks following the World Trade Center disaster and on view until Oct. 13. Upon hearing that her previous home had been attacked, Altman hopped Amtrak and stayed with a friend for two weeks, so she could shoot the emotional aftermath of the attack. Her haunting: photos are not of buildings exploding, but of the determination and humanity of individual New Yorkers. Amid the one-year-anniversary packaging of Sept. 11 — down to little plane logos in some media — Altman's photos are a refreshing reminder of how to honor a devastating event with style and grace.

Fitting for Altman's varied career history — from paparazzi to sports photographer — she this year became the official shooter for the Sweet Potato Queens. She told the London Observer she was the Queens' official photographer so the paper would buy her photos; with that go-ahead, she then told Jill Conner Browne that she had the London Observer interested. Altman's chutzpah paid off; Browne hired her. "She makes us look so good, which is, after all, the most important thing in life," Browne says.

Browne soon asked Altman to shoot photos for "The Sweet Potato Queens' Big Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner)," due out in January. "I brought in 500 frickin' pounds of sweet potatoes and Cool Whip. I had a fry pan this big filled with bacon," Altman said, holding her hands about four feet apart. "Jill had all the bacon she could eat." Altman said Browne has been great for her career, and she'll keep returning the favor. "They'll be wheeling me down the parade route with oxygen tanks," she said.

– Donna Ladd