[1] He has had solo exhibitions at Tate St Ives, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Lowry, and the Royal West of England Academy.
He studied creative photography at the London College of Printing,[10] then worked at Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol from 1976 to 1982.
[2][11] Predominantly, "Southam's subject is the rural landscape of the South West of England, where he lives and works.
His first project, in black and white, was The Floating Harbour: a Landscape History of Bristol City Docks (1977–84).
All subsequent series are in colour and include Paintings of the West of Cornwall (1982–86); and The Long White Cloud, made in New Zealand at the end of 2018.