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Photo-Essay Review |
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Algonquin
has compiled images of American wooden churches and colored the black and
white photographs with the words of American author, many of them
southern-born. Renowned
photographers Walker Evans, Tom Rankin, Marion Post Wolcott are among
those behind the camera’s eye in this book.
Serene scenes of silent churches set a reflective mood.
Others capture the life’s blood of the church body such as a
river baptism and dinner on the grounds. The
emotions these photographs inspire are strengthened by the passages
selected to accompany them. A
scene of men building a North Carolina church possibly in the early
1900’s, is brought to life with Eudora Welty’s reflection of her great
grandfather who built the church he preached inside.
The moment of being “born again” captured by Lee Smith in Black
Mountain Breakdown is used with images of a wedding ceremony.
Rick Bragg’s introduction illustrates the richness of religious traditions to southern culture. Wooden Churches will awaken childhood memories and family stories of Sundays past.
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