On Sunday April 26 a large group of FCCSR members and friends turned out to hear Prize-winning photojournalist Matt Herron share his first hand experiences documenting the “Summer of Freedom” in Alabama and Mississippi.
Many of us are old enough to have followed the Selma march and other key civil rights events as they were happening in the media, but it was something else entirely to see them through the eyes and photos of someone who was in the middle of it all, working to document the movement while staying one step ahead of the local sheriffs.
Mr. Herron’s mentor and informal adviser on this project was the great Dorothea Lange, and like hers, his photography focused on the social and cultural “People story” more than the big headline events. As a New York Times reviewer noted “Mr. Herron’s work also documented the ways culture abetted and perpetuated white supremacy in the South: an artful Ku Klux Klan recruiting poster; police officers decked out in opulent helmets; and a pursed-lipped George Wallace, then governor of Alabama, seated imperially on a dais covered in silk bunting. Mr. Herron’s photograph of two elderly supporters of Mr. Wallace is a stunning treatise on the banality of evil, their lively summer dresses and matronly manner barely concealing the vitriol that seethes within them.”
After his presentation, Mr. Herron, who now lives in San Rafael, autographed copies of his new book, Mississippi Eyes, which collects both the pictures and writings of the members of the Southern Documentary Project team. (Click here to see more pictures from the book and to read the New York Times review.)
Coming in May: We’ll continue our exploration of the “Summer of Freedom” by screening “Selma,” Ava DuVernay‘s Oscar-nominated film, at FCCSR Movie Night, Friday May 22. (More details here)