Posted on
2025-06-23
Growing up in the Deep South often feels like growing up in a different time or country. The unique landscape, history and ways of being stand apart from the monolith of mainstream culture. Viewed from the outside as backwards and lacking; stereotypes of southerness are inert, and fail to include the South’s true complexity, enduring charm, and diversity. The reality of the South is lived, active and chosen every day. There’s a colloquialism here that “pretty is as pretty does”, or in other words, pleasant behavior always outweighs pleasant looks.
In this exhibition, featuring work from eight photographers collected by The Do Good Fund of Columbus, GA, each artist captures what we do—a farmer fashioning a scarecrow for his garden, parading dancers, or a brass band performing for a church service. These images convey the ways we live, with intricate layers of identity and belonging woven into the fabric of Southern life. These are decisive moments. Intimate portraits and landscapes alike embody the spirit of the South as lived and living.
Opposite – Jessica, Athens, Georgia, Mark Steinmetz
Exhibition runs through to July 23rd, 2025
The University of Alabama Gallery
620 Greensboro Avenue
Tuscaloosa
AL 35401
www.alabamacontemporary.org
