Follow (this advice) Friday

"Just make stuff.  Just quit your job or whatever you hate doing, and make stuff, damnit.” Amos Kennedy

New Delta Rising

 In her photo book New Delta Rising photographer Magdalena Sole shares the stories of the people of the Mississippi Delta. So much about the Delta has focused on the land, the myth of place and its sordid past. New Delta Rising goes to the heart of what is happening now. The stories are rich and diverse and the photos are stunning.

A Q&A with photographer Magdalena Sole.

I understand that you went to the Delta and, like so many others, it grabbed ahold of you. There are a lot of books about the Delta including an abundance of photo books – so how did this particular book come about?

The Delta did grab ahold of me. I was invited by the Dreyfus Health Foundation to attend a rally in Cleveland, and so I went. What I found was an amazing culture. Delta people allowed me to slip into their midst as if they had known me forever; we could swap stories and laughter, sorrow and silence. In the most unexpected places I found kinship. Sometimes as a photographer you are lucky and make a friend here or there, but most often you arrive as an outsider, and that is how you leave. The Delta refused to go along. I arrived as an outsider, but I was gradually absorbed into the fabric of life so I felt not like an outsider, but rather like a family member who happened to have the camera

There are many books about the Delta, but I did not see one that specifically focused on the people. What I most loved about the Delta were the people. Not the famous ones, but the everyday person who struggles and has hardships, and finds ways to overcome them.

Being that there was a 3^rd party – the Rogosin Institute – involved, did that color your project in ways? Was there an agenda at the outset that they hoped you’d support?

The Dreyfus Health Foundation, which is a subsidiary of The Rogosin Institute, had done much grassroots work in the Mississippi Delta. We shared a common love for the people of the Delta. We wanted to create a book that expressed the beauty and strength of the people. They gave me great creative freedom to make a book that did the beauty of the Delta justice.

What is their interest in having you document the people on the Delta on their behalf?

The foundation views the Delta as a place of strength and immense human potential. They wanted this strength and potential documented.

How did you decide who would make it into the book?

It evolved organically, I wanted people who usually are not given a voice but have a voice, to be heard.

Did you go in with any preconceived notions and the seek out images that would support that hypothesis?

I was born in Europe and came to this country when I was in my 20’s. I was ignorant of the South and so had not one preconceived notion about the Delta. With purpose I did not want to do much research before starting the project. I love the feeling of arriving in an unknown place for the first time. The first impressions and explorations let me see the beauty of a place no matter how forlorn. I just look, to hopefully see behind the surface.

How much research did you do before going down? Did you see “Lalee’s Kin” or the Morgan Freeman documentary about the white/black prom, “Prom Night In Mississippi?” Did you read “The Most Southern Place on Earth? Or maybe just see films like ‘Mississippi Burning?”

I didn’t see any films, or read any books about the Delta until I was almost finished project. I didn’t want my pictures to be tainted by anyone else’s interpretations of the Delta. I learned about the Delta by listening to the stories of the people I met. I think I am a good listener, which helps.

The overarching stereotype or reality is that the Delta is very poor and that’s all it’s ever going to be. Did you find that there? Was there another narrative to explore?

Yes, most know that the Delta is one of the poorest places in the United States with the saddest infant mortality rate, and rampant unemployment. But behind the statistics I found a vibrant, resilient community with a strong family cohesiveness at its core.  The texture of the Delta is unique. What interested me more then the fact that people in the Delta have less money, was the beauty, dignity, and the richness of their lives.

What did you leave out?

I left out dozens of worthy stories and images that could have filled another book. Space was my worst enemy.

Being from NYC, we have a sense of entitled and a belief that we can do whatever we want. And for the most part we sort of can. For the very poor of the Delta – what is the hope? What’s the most/best they can expect?

A certain class of New Yorker is entitled and can do most of what they want.  Then again, for  other classes in the city choices and hope remain much more limited. In both places the hope is for education and a decent job. I am not really from New York City, I was born in Spain, then moved to Switzerland in the 1960s as a daughter of immigrants.  I am no foreigner to hardship and in fact feel most at home among people with that experience.

If you could do this project again, what would you have done differently?

That’s such a difficult question, since I now know so much more about the area and its people then when I started. But in truth I think I would do it all the same. I would still want to be a blank slate and without guile. I would still want the surprise of first discovery at the core of my work. But most of all I would want to again be mesmerized by the kindness and generosity of the people I found.

Is there a Part Two expected in the future?

 One never knows.

What types of promotion did you do when the book was released? Did you exhibit in MS and NY?

The first promotion I did with the book was both a series of book signing events and talks throughout the bookstores of Mississippi. I was also invited to show the pictures in the Clarksdale Courthouse, in an exhibit titled “Southern Expressions”. It was a great for the people that were depicted in the book to come to the courthouse, take center stage and participate in the joy of the coming out of the book. I will never forget everyone's  smiling faces and pride when they saw themselves in the book. It made all the hard work worthwhile.

My next exhibit in the Delta was in Cleveland, MS. The opening was on August 23rd at The Gallery at Wiljax at 347 Cotton Row, a preserved old part of town. The pictures will also be on display at Sous Les Étoiles Gallery in Soho, NY on September 27, and in January 2013 at the Leica Gallery in New York City.

What does it mean for the people of the Delta to be in a book?

I can’t speak for the people of the Delta but what I hope is that opening this book brings a smile of recognition at lives well lived, or redeemed through courage and hard work.

Did you have hopes for this book/project  - that perhaps it would serve as a catalyst for change and awareness?

Perhaps the stories and pictures will provide some heart and courage and that would be wonderful.

Do people in NY and other parts of the country still have the wrong idea about Mississippi. What do we think and then what would be the truth that you’d like people to know?

People are really surprised when they see the book. No one seemed to know that the Mississippi portrayed in the pictures even existed. May people have expressed that they want to visit the Delta, bacause they like what thet saw.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Just a heartfelt thanks to the people I met in the Delta for their kindness, hospitality and willingness to take me into their lives.  I hope my book is some evidence of my deep gratitude.

 Sous Les Etoiles gallery will exhibit Sole's Delta photos from Sept 27 thru Nov 10. 

Also, you can join Sole for a photo workshop in the Delta from Oct 10 - 24.

Memorial Day

I wrote a post in 2008 likening the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration to the southern tradition of Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day). My friend Bobbye was the first person to tell me about Decoration Day and she shared the history of the tradition  from the cleaning of the graves to the church services and dinner of the ground:

"The families arrived early Sunday morning to place the flowers on the graves before Church services began. The Mother was a walking 'oral Historian' and she could identify every grave. Many of the Mothers would bring baskets of flowers from their gardens. She and the children would place flowers on forgotten graves .Then the whole family would file into the church building and fill up a whole row. Sometimes, there would be as many as five generations on a given row. Flowers would be given to the oldest mother and the youngest mother in attendance. Also, there were flowers for the mother that had the most children and for the mother that had the most children in attendance with her."

So much of this has changed but Bobbye remains my personal oral historian for her own family history, the state of Alabama and the entire south.

Thank you.

Rat, The River, and Bessie Smith

I went to the Mississippi Delta once with my cousin Jessica. We drove from St. Louis to New Orleans on the Great River Road. In Clarksdale we went to visit with Rat who runs the Riverside Hotel - the place where Bessie Smith is rumored to have died after a car crash and being denied access to a white hospital for treatment. This story has been a matter of dispute, but when we were there in 2001 Rat still had the room done up as a tribute to Bessie. I don't know if Rat is still around but he told us: "If you want to find Rat, he's down by the river." That's where I'd start.

The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith is playing now at St. Luke's Theater. Click here for tickets.

How far would you go for love?

Photo: The Loving family - Grey Villet

I wanted to time this post to coincide with the International Center of Photography's exhibit of Grey Villet's photos of The Loving family but I blew it. The exhibit closed earlier this week. But given the recent vote in North Carolina to ban gay marriage, sharing the story of the Loving family became more relevant than ever.

"Forty-five years ago, sixteen states still prohibited interracial marriage. Then, in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the case of Richard Perry Loving, a white man, and his wife, Mildred Loving, a woman of African American and Native American descent, who had been arrested for miscegenation nine years earlier in Virginia. The Lovings were not active in the Civil Rights movement but their tenacious legal battle to justify their marriage changed history when the Supreme Court unanimously declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation law—and all race-based marriage bans—unconstitutional. LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet's intimate images were uncovered by director Nancy Buirski during the making of The Loving Story..." (source)

Although the ICP exhibit in now closed, its related documentary film is still available on HBO GO. While watching it I found myself wondering what I would have done in a similar situation. My husband and I are not an exact match either (age and religious differences). He tells me I give up too easily and sometimes he's right.

How far would you go to fight for something you believe in? How far would you go to fight for love?

What's cooking in the South!

Photo credit: Travis Nelson 

Last night, the James Beard Foundation held its annual awards ceremony in New York City. This morning, I woke up to a wonderful piece about one of the winners, Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, on the CBS This Morning. I also logged onto Facebook to find many of my southern friends (mainly the Alabamians) bragging on the winners from their region.

It got me wondering: Is the south still a place where home-cooking matters? Is it dying off more and more as the newer generations want and demand the quickness of "convenience?" Does food still hold the same reverent focal point in family and other gatherings as it once did? Who's making sure to carry on the tradition? Do people still share (or guard) their recipes? I have the question floating out in the email ether to one dear friend from Bessemer, Ala., but I welcome feedback from everyone. What do you think?

In the meantime, here's a list of the southerners who took home awards last night:

BOOK:

ANew Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen

by Hugh Acheson

(Clarkson Potter)

WRITING:

MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award

John T. Edge

Saveur

“BBQNation”

And the biggies:

BEST CHEF: SOUTH (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS)

Chris Hastings

Hot and Hot Fish Club

Birmingham, AL

BEST CHEF: SOUTHEAST (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)

Hugh Acheson

Five and Ten

Athens, GA

Linton Hopkins

Restaurant Eugene

Atlanta

AMERICA’S CLASSICS (Presented by The Coca-Cola Company)

Jones Bar-B-Q Diner

219 West Louisiana St., Marianna, AR

Owners: James and Betty Jones

Q&A with Alabama Designer Robert Rausch

Clio-award winning designer, art director and photographer Robert Rausch lived and worked in Paris, New York and Los Angeles before heading back home to The Shoals, in the northwest corner of Alabama, to open GAS - Design Center.  There he completes a sort of creative trifecta with fellow Shoals natives Natalie Chanin and Billy Reid.

A huge proponent of “Slow Design,” Rausch spoke with Southernist about his design philosophy, high design coming out of the south, and the challenges of working from Alabama.

What are some of the struggles you've had because you are based there vs. when you were based in New York or L.A.?

I think in a bigger city there is more work to be had and there is a trust that people have for you as a designer.

Working from a small town, the first question people wonder is “if you’re such a good designer why are you living in a small town in Alabama/” It’s not something they come out and ask but it’s an underlying thing they think until they work with you and then they realize it's a lifestyle choice and not a setback. Most of our clients see it as an asset. They feel like we give them something fresh that the designers in the bigger cities can’t give them.

You talk a lot about “slow design.” Can you explain what that is?

Slow Design approaches design from a holistic (individuals, society, and environment) view, with consideration to the social factors as well as the short and long term impacts of the design and materials used. We use the Slow Design as a way to rethink not only the design but the needs of the client.

Traditionally Slow Design has these six components (defined by the slow lab project) 

1. Reveal:  Slow design reveals spaces and experiences in everyday life that are often missed or forgotten, including the materials and processes that can easily be overlooked in an artifact’s existence or creation.

2. Expand: Slow design considers the real and potential “expressions” of artifacts and environments beyond their perceived functionality, physical attributes and lifespans.

3. Reflect: Slowly-designed artifacts and environments induce contemplation and ‘reflective consumption.’ 

4. Engage: Slow design processes are “open source” and collaborative, relying on sharing, co-operation and transparency of information so that designs may continue to evolve into the future.

5. Participate: Slow design encourages people to become active participants in the design process, embracing ideas of conviviality and exchange to foster social accountability and enhance communities.

6. Evolve: Slow design recognizes that richer experiences can emerge from the dynamic maturation of artifacts and environments over time. Looking beyond the needs and circumstances of the present day, Slow Design processes and outcomes become agents of both preservation and transformation.

Who else in the south is doing notable design work and what is it about their work that you find unique or appealing:

From crafting to farming, Southern tradition cultivates beauty. Good design stimulates intellect and elevates the lives that exist around it. Here are a few examples of Southern High Design:

Belle Chevre: This goat cheese from rural Alabama is sold in Beverly Hills and Dean & Deluca in New York City. Tasia Malakasis is the face of this passionate company. Tasia has so much vision for her cheeses. Not only are the cheeses innovative (she has a whole line of breakfast cheeses) but the packaging is hip, with an appeal to a younger demographic. Her goal is to sell cheese back to the French and she will do it. For a small town Alabama Cheese she is already sold on the east and west coast of the U.S. 

Knobstoppers & Cake Vintage: Featuring paper goods and accessories for the table that are sold at retailers such as Anthropologie, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma. They have a traditional classic stye and design. They have unique table papers for food. Classic designs used in contemporary ways. So their innovation is more with reuse than unique design.

Bella Cucina: The pleasures of dining with Bella Cucina's foods as well as their ceramics, linens and home goods are a luxury you can take home with you- or enjoy at their shopping and dining location, Porta Via in Atlanta, GA. It's hard to beat Italy when it comes to food. Smith has done a killer job with the design and his wife has done an incredible job with the food. Just look at the packaging and it evokes what is on the inside and what the whole company is about. Simple, detailed, chic.

Wesley Baker of Baker Binding: Based in Anniston, Alabama, Wesley Baker handcrafts books with quality practices and materials. It's no wonder that his clients include the famous luxury brand Asprey in London.  The craftsmanship of Wes is amazing. I love working with him and on every project he puts so much time into the smallest detail. It’s nice to have that in today’s world where you have to go with the standard. When you work with Wes there are no standards. It's all custom.

****

Rausch's photography can be seen in The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Garden and Gun, Southern Living, Ladies Home Journal, and Veranda Magazine, just to name a few. His design work can be seen at Anthropologie, Hilton Hotels, Whole Foods, Ted Montana Grill, The Waldorf Astoria, and Billy Reid.

Robert's devotion to Slow Design is evident in his work and the clients his work attracts.

He works out of a magnificently converted historic building in downtown Tuscumbia and he lives on a small farm with his wife and four children.

Booker's Place

I've been in conversation for the past few weeks with a friend who grew up in the Mississippi Delta about the fallout from everything that occurred there during the 60s and 70s and where the Delta is now. I don't know that there will ever come a day when race is not a hot button topic in America. It's either the pink elephant in the room or a snarling divisive pit bull. We don't often get a chance to engage in productive conversation about what happened then, what's happening now and how to move forward together.

With his film, Booker's Place, Raymond DeFelitta gives us that chance.

On the Tribeca Film site, William Goldberg writes: "In 1965, documentary filmmaker Frank DeFelitta traveled to Mississippi to shoot a film on the subject of racism in the American South. As he went about observing life in Mississippi and interviewing the locals, Frank was introduced to an African-American waiter named Booker Wright. With utter candor and a brazen lack of concern for his own well-being, Booker appeared on tape in the documentary and spoke openly and honestly about the realities of living in a racist society. This brief interview forever changed the lives of Booker and his family, and more than 40 years later, Frank's son Raymond DeFelitta (director of City Island) returns to the site of his father's film to examine the repercussions of this fateful interview." (source)

Mr. DeFelitta answered some poignant questions for Southernist about his trip to Mississippi, what he found there, and the experience of making this film:

Is your father’s original piece still viewable anywhere?

Not at the moment. I took it off Youtube when we started negotiating with NBC for the footage to be used in Booker's Place. Hopefully we'll be able to include it as a DVD extra.

 Was this your first experience with Mississippi?

Yes, I'd never been in anywhere in the south except Florida...and that was Miami!

 What preconceived notions did you go to Mississippi with? Did any of that change as you worked on this project?

I had no preconceived notions about the people. My sense was that it was a different place from the place that my father had visited fifty years ago and that was correct, to a large extent. What I wasn't prepared for was the level of poverty. You hear about these things as statistics but until you see it up close, you don't realize that that "other America" truly does exist and it's appalling. Gives a special jolt to the whole "one-percent" bullshit and the money being spent to elect Presidents who can do nothing about the poverty I'm talking about.

It is not often that people get a chance to go back and talk about certain things that happened during that time in Mississippi. How much resistance were you met with when you first got there and how did you overcome that and get folks talking?

The people in Mississippi--at least the ones I talked with--are eloquent and interested in their own history. They've thought a lot about these issues, about their dark past and want to explore the truth of it with others since they feel (rightly) that they've been stereotyped over the years

as a land filled with Klan members and nothing else. The only thing they ever made clear that would make them uncomfortable would be if they sensed we were there to patronize them i.e. portray them as "hicks" and in some way demean them. 

What would have happened to/with this film if you had not been able to get folks to talk to you? Could you have still made this film – would the story have been worth telling – if you didn’t get the interviews you got (e.g. the judge)?

No, there's no historical retrospective possible, to my mind, without witnesses and direct testimony. It's what separates a true narrative documentary from, say, a History Channel documentary. Not that I'm knocking what HC docs, but they are a different breed than what I do and am interested in.

It seems that your dad may have suspected that something bad happened to Booker. Was he surprised to learn of his demise?

Yes as was I.

That last sound bite on the trailer is a bit gut-wrenching. Does your father truly regret leaving Booker in? Would he have done Booker a disservice if he had left him out, even if it meant sparing his life?

I think he has mixed feelings, true ambivalence (which defined is: strong feelings in either direction). Ultimately I think he realizes that censoring Booker "for his own good" would have been just as patronizing an act as any white person had committed on Booker through his life.

What do you expect that New York audiences will think of or get from this film?

I don't think of NY audiences as a separate group than other audiences really. I hope any audience gets a chance to see the tragedy of the Civil Rights struggle through a fresh lens--that of one man, and not one of the heroes (King, Evers) but a simple working man. Personalizing the story will, I hope, give people a more nuanced perspective on the subject and how many-sided the story of the struggle was.

Is this just another sad Mississippi story? Why is this story important?

Because it's the story of a great movement but seen from the point of view of one man's life and his reactions to his everyday treatment, his life's history and how he finally broke down and spoke out.

In what ways did it seem that the fallout from the 60s was still affecting the lives of Mississippians today?

In the south it seems like every conversation eventually circles back to the subject of race. It's their original sin and they can't get away from the subject. So yes, in terms of dealing with the past and trying to move forward into the future--and making filmmakers and journalists and

other interested parties understand the complexity of their history--there is still much fallout.

Is there another narrative about Mississippi that will begin to be told one day?

Progress is slow but it's undeniable. The town of Greenwood, Miss. was a terrorist state for black people back when my father made his film. And the schools were segregated. Neither of those things are true anymore--something that none of the white community’s leaders who my father shows in his film would have ever thought possible. So even though much remains to be done, those are two major changes. I think life in the south is like life for all of us. There's an inextricable pull to events. We can't go backward so we must go forward.

Booker's Place is now available on-demand and is playing at Noho 7 in Los Angeles, CA and opens at Quad Cinema in New York, NY tomorrow.

Please also visit the blog of Booker's granddaughter Yvette for additional riveting commentary and thought provoking conversation.