Southern Photography Exhibits on Display at UM in October

This photo, titled Dollar Tree, Abbeville, MS, 2013 by Brooke White is one of the photos featured in the Do Good Exhibit. Photo submitted by Brooke White.

The University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture and Department of Art and Art History are collaborating to host a variety of photography exhibitions and events on campus during October.

“NOW: Contemporary Southern Photography” is on display in Gallery 130, in Meek Hall. The photo selections are from the Do Good Fund, a public charity in Columbus, Georgia, that focuses on building a quality collection of photographs taken in the South after World War II.
The selection of 25 pieces created over the past decade by 13 photographers describes the South through portraiture, landscape, narrative and architecture. The exhibit explores the varied photographic approaches that Southern photographers use to challenge preconceived notion about the South.
“The mission of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture is to study the American South in all its various essentials,” said David Wharton, director of documentary studies at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. “We’re very pleased that photographs from the Do Good Collection are helping us do that.
The exhibit’s opening reception is set for 5-6 p.m. Oct. 5, preceded from 3 to 4 p.m. by a panel discussion featuring artists Jill Frank, a member of the photography faculty at Georgia State University; Jerry Seigel, a renowned photographer whose work is in many public and private collections; Brooke White, UM associate professor of art and art history; and Wharton. Alan Rothschild, founder of the Do Good Fund, will moderate the panel.
The exhibit will remain on display through Oct. 27.
A second exhibit, “Southern People, Southern Places,” runs through Dec. 8. in the Gammill Gallery of Barnard Observatory, with an opening reception 4:30-5:30 p.m. Oct. 5.  The 24 photos by 20 Southern artists include images of residents and the areas they inhabit.
The photographs encourage viewers to consider the bonds that exist between Southerners, their culture and the place they call home.
A brown bag lecture will be hosted about both Do Good exhibits from noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Gammill Gallery with Wharton and White.
The collaboration to bring Southern photography to Mississippi began about four years ago.
“As a photographer working in the deep Southern United States, it has been critical to both my teaching and artistic practice to find connections between the local and connect it to the global,” White said.
The Do Good Fund also has six other exhibits in Mississippi.
“Each of the eight exhibitions throughout the state will be varied in their curatorial approach, but each calls into question what it means to be Southern and the important role the South plays in developing identity and place,” White said. “Photography will take center stage and the images will reflect the familiar alongside unfamiliar images of the South and will create a discussion about history, place and the culture of the state.”
For more information about the Do Good Fund, visit https://www.thedogoodfund.org/.

Staff Report
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