Betty
Press

2016 Caucus Application Portfolio

The Place I Live: Mississippi

I never expected to live in Mississippi! I moved here in 2003 after spending many years working in Africa. Because of this I bring a singular perspective to documenting the Southern black and white experience, which is so intertwined, and which keeps the South a unique region in the USA even today.
So feeling that Mississippi is not my “place,” I decided the best way to deal with this unease was to explore the state, mostly rural and agricultural, through a series of road trips. Eudora Welty, a Mississippi writer and photographer who writes from a strong sense of place, is my visual and literary muse.

Recording "real life" in small communities throughout Mississippi with black-and-white film using plastic or vintage cameras reveals a slightly surreal, hidden narrative of the landscape and people who live there. This long-term photo project is partially funded with a 2013 Visual Artist Fellowship Grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.