PhotographerO.N.Pruitt(1891-1967)wasforsomefortyyearsthedefactodocumentarianofLowndesCounty,Mississippi,anditscountyseat,Columbus--knowntolocalsas“PossumTown.“HisbodyofworkrecallsmanyFSAphotographers,butPruittwasnotanoutsiderwithanagenda;hewasacommunitymemberwithintimateknowledgeofthetownanditsresidents.HephotographedhisfellowwhitecitizensandBlackonesaswell,incircumstancesrangingfromthemundanetothehorrific:familypicnics,parades,riverbaptisms,carnivals,fires,funerals,twoofMississippi’slastpublicandlegalexecutionsbyhanging,andalynching.Fromformalportraitstocandidimagesofeventsinthemoment,Pruitt’sdocumentaryofaspecificyetrepresentativesoutherntownoffersviewerstodayaninvitationtomeditateontheinterrelationsofphotography,community,race,andhistoricalmemory.ColumbusnativeBerkleyHudsonwasphotographedbyPruitt,andformorethanthreedecadeshehasconsideredandcuratedPruitt’sexpansivearchive,bothasascholarofmediaandvisualjournalismandasacommunitymember.ThisstunningbookpresentsPruitt’sphotographyasneverbefore,combiningmorethan190imageswithabiographicalintroductionandHudson’sshortessaysandreflectivecaptionsonsubjectssuchasreligion,ethnicidentity,theordinarygracesofeverydaylife,andtheexerciseofbrutalpower.
RACE CARNIVALS TOWN COMMUNITY FIRES
