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Delta Time
A social documentary photographer whose work has appeared in books, magazines, and countless exhibitions presents a photographic journey through the poorest communities of the Mississippi Delta. More than 100 duotone photos capture the legacy of sharecroppers, racism, and poverty in the Deep South--a land where time has brought little change.
- GenresNonfiction
144 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 24, 2014
Every few years, I travel through the Mississippi Delta, the northwest crescent of Mississippi, where the blues were born, and I've done so since before 1995, when this remarkable book of photographs was published. The Delta is a strange place, full of mysteries and contradictions. But on my first visit, it was apparent that poverty was a large part of the picture. This corner of my country contains some of the most shocking poverty I've ever seen.
But Ken Light dug deeper than I did, and the black-and-white photographs from the Delta gathered here are described in Robert Moses' forward as "unsettling." They are that and more. These pictures were taken between 1989 and 1992, which probably seems like ancient history to younger folks - but it really wasn't that long ago. And on my last visit to the Delta, about two years ago, not much seemed to have changed, except that the Delta felt even more desperate.
There are photographs of Americans living in shacks, with no running water or electricity. There is a photograph of a young man with what looks like a two-gallon jug making the "water walk" to the nearest water source, just as in any third-world country. There is a photograph of a twelve-year-old girl chopping cotton.
These are photographs of failure - the failure of society, the failure of capitalism, the failure of America. But there's something else here - some of the subjects seem beaten down by the hand they've been dealt, but in picture after picture, we see people smiling, self-aware, tough, even joyful. Light's photographs are indeed unsettling, but show that the human spirit can transcend the most trying of circumstances.
But Ken Light dug deeper than I did, and the black-and-white photographs from the Delta gathered here are described in Robert Moses' forward as "unsettling." They are that and more. These pictures were taken between 1989 and 1992, which probably seems like ancient history to younger folks - but it really wasn't that long ago. And on my last visit to the Delta, about two years ago, not much seemed to have changed, except that the Delta felt even more desperate.
There are photographs of Americans living in shacks, with no running water or electricity. There is a photograph of a young man with what looks like a two-gallon jug making the "water walk" to the nearest water source, just as in any third-world country. There is a photograph of a twelve-year-old girl chopping cotton.
These are photographs of failure - the failure of society, the failure of capitalism, the failure of America. But there's something else here - some of the subjects seem beaten down by the hand they've been dealt, but in picture after picture, we see people smiling, self-aware, tough, even joyful. Light's photographs are indeed unsettling, but show that the human spirit can transcend the most trying of circumstances.
November 20, 2024
Quick impressions: Overall, this is an excellent work of documentary photography.
(See my review on my blog.)
(See my review on my blog.)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews