Southern Voices

The concept behind this project is a series of portraits of Southerners living in New England, inspired partly by the works of Edward S. Curtis, Jeff Wall and 19th century portaiture. The theme of this series focuses on the cultural heritage and perception of the South in the modern day, and how it has affected those from that culture who now live outside it for whatever reason, with a goal to look at those that do not meet the perceive idea of what constitutes a Southerner, which is typically presented as older, white and conservative. Along with portaits would be audio testimonials from the subjects culled from interviews where they discuss growing up in the South, what part of the culture they carry with them, why they left and how moving to the North has affected them, etc. This concept stems from my own experience of growing up in the rural South and being very self aware of the culture I grew up in and its effect on me, both good and bad, and how that impacted my own transition to moving to the North. It also comes from my own frustration at how the South and its culture is often presented reductively by the rest of the country, so this project would be focused on showing a South not often shown or perceived.