|
Faces and Places
Part 1: Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi
by Leon Sun
San Francisco, California
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Introduction
(To see large versions of photos click on any photo or here.)
Looking back at the past thirty years of my photography is similar to looking back over my life. The greatest satisfaction has always come from having made a connection with people. Some connections take years to develop, but photography has a way of going to the core of a person’s essence in an instant. It is no wonder that, in some cultures, there is great fear of being photographed.
But I’m not out to capture souls. I am merely trying to touch them. I like to think of my photography as an expression of compassion, a way of saying, "Hey, I'm really glad to have met you on this journey we call life."
These photographs were taken on assignment for Unity Newspaper in the spring of 1988. My job was to accompany the reporter as we followed the Jesse Jackson campaign through the three Southern states of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
The trip was an eye-opener on so many levels. For the first time, I met African Americans who live on and work the land. Except for the big cities of Atlanta and Birmingham, the rural small towns I visited were basically all black. It was as if I was in one side of a parallel universe.
Within this universe, however, the communities seemed more whole than the urban communities here in the West. People lived, went to school and to church all in one place. Everyone seemed to know each other, and can recall the same continuities of life.
As an Asian American traveling through a world still largely defined by black and white, I was a bit of a novelty. Yet people treated me as if they’ve always known me. Southern hospitality is very real. And I, in turn, took an easy liking to Southern food which brought up memories of my own home, so many miles and years away.
I also took a liking to gospel music. It seemed to ooze out of the pores of the land. It was such a natural, every-day part of life. Seeing and hearing young people break out in spontaneous harmonies gave me goose bumps. Since then, I would occasionally listen to gospel music on Sunday mornings on public radio. It just doesn’t sound the same.
It’s been almost twenty years since my trip to the South, but it stands out as one of the most memorable -- along with the trips back to China, where I was born and partly raised.
Published in In Motion Magazine, August 12, 2007
Also see:
|
|
Untitled. Georgia. All photos by Leon Sun. Click on any photo to see large versions.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Thomasville, Georgia.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Thomasville, Georgia.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Thomasville, Georgia.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Wrightsville, Georgia.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Wrightsville, Georgia.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Untitled. Atlanta, Georgia.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Macon, Georgia.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Alabama.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Birmingham, Alabama.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Birmingham, Alabama.
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. McCrae School, Selma, Alabama.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Untitled. Mississippi.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
