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Photography Review |
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The
cover of A Portrait of
Southern Writers offers images of Alice Walker, former President Jimmy Carter,
Ishmael Reed and Mary Hood. It
is a beautiful table book with a gallery style layout sure to become a
family heirloom. Curt
Richter was commissioned by Louis D. Rubin Jr. to photograph the founding
members of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.
The first author to sit for him was Eudora Welty and the last was
Alice Walker. The project
took seven years to complete and during that period Richter photographed
two hundred writers associated with the South.
One hundred of those images were selected for A Portrait of
Southern Writers.
The
exquisite photography in black and white with perhaps a touch of sepia in
some, is a cherished history of authors we have lost, such as, Robert Penn
Warren, James Dickey, Willie Morris, and Walker Percy.
Richter captures the extremes, from dignity of Kaye Gibbons to
tattooed Tim McLaurin holding a snake. The
album of contemporary southern writers captures the mood of inspiration
and charm of each literary star. To
name a few of the authors captured in the camera’s eye: Andrew Lytle,
William Styron, Pat Conroy, Rita Mae Brown, Bailey White, Shelby Foote,
Lee Smith, Bobbie Ann Mason, Tina McElroy Ansa and Harry Crews.
That’s just ten of the one hundred southern voices presented. In
the preface, Richter describes the journey the project took him on through
the South as he met each author and captured the essence of the writer’s
vision. Richter’s
self-portrait is taken in his rear view mirror with a pair of stuffed dice
hanging down as the road ahead is blurred in the background.
Perhaps it was taken on his favorite stretch of highway 319 between
Tifton, Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida.
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