Gillian Laub: Southern Rites

Gillian Laub: Southern Rites by Laub, Gillian. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9788862084130.

Southern Rites is an original and provocative 12-year visual study of one communitys struggle to confront longstanding issues of race and equality. In May 2009, the New York Times Magazine published a photo-essay by Gillian Laub entitled "A Prom Divided," which documented Georgias Montgomery County High Schools racially segregated prom rituals. Laubs photographs ignited a firestorm of national outrage and led the community to finally integrate. One year later, there was newfound hope--a historic campaign to elect the countys first African American sheriff. But the murder of a young black man--portrayed in Laubs earlier prom series--by a white town patriarch reopened old wounds. Through her intimate portraits and firsthand testimony, Laub reveals in vivid color the horror and humanity of these complex, intertwined narratives. The photographers inimitable sensibility--it is the essence and emotional truth of the singular person in front of her lens that matters most--ensures that, however elevated the ideas and themes may be, her pictures remain studies of individuals; a chronicle of their courage in the face of injustice, of their suffering and redemption, possessing an unsettling power. Gillian Laub (born 1975) crafts striking personal portraits, whether she is photographing her own family in Mamaroneck, New York, or victims of violence in the Middle East. In May 2015, the documentary Southern Rites--Laubs directorial debut--will premiere on HBO, examining the aftermath of the publication of Laubs photographs of Montgomery County and her own role in the events.