Southern Lanscape in Photos

A picture is worth 1,000 words.

Currently, there are 23 black and white photographs on display at the Gammill Gallery located in the first floor foyer of Barnard Observatory where artist David Zurick visually defines southern cultural landscapes.

Emily Philpot, Ole Miss student, gazes at photos in the exhibit in her downtime before her class begins

The exhibit is titled “Southern Crossings: Where Geography and Photography Meet” and it includes the exact photographs from Zurick’s book of photographs also titled “Southern Crossings: Where Geography and Photography Meet.”

Zurick is an academically trained geographer and self-taught photographer who seamlessly portrays southern cultural landscapes in his desire to examine landscapes and share his thoughts about them.

“Landscapes thus hold for me great meaning- repositories of lifestyles, connections between society and land, and mirrors onto worldviews and their associated values,” Zurick said in his personal statement.

The exhibit includes photographs taken during Zurick’s 10-year journey (beginning in 1996) through the American South.

One photograph is of an old-fashioned, rotting truck with broken windows decaying in a wooden area in Stone County, Miss.

Alongside the photos is a photo description containing unique historical facts and stories involving the area the picture was taken from.

The exhibit intrigued sophomore Ole Miss student, Catherine Supple.

“The pictures are an interesting blend of modernism and traditional southern lifestyle. It is fascinating to see the southern culture and landscape depicted in this way,” Supple said.

At noon on Wednesday, October 5, George Thompson, former director of the center for American places at Columbia College in Chicago, Ill., will hold a discussion in Barnard Observatory of “Southern Crossings: Where Geography and Photography Meet.”

This and additional information can be found on today’s UM Today announcement.

Additional background information regarding Zurick’s book can be found at the Eastern Kentucky University website.