Preface by Imani Perry. Text by Andrew Moore, Madison Smartt Bell.
“Precious and rare are the images and essays about Alabama that I recognize as belonging to my home … Blue Alabama is different. This book is true to my home.” –Imani Perry, from the Preface
Andrew Moore photographs places in transition: Cuba, Detroit, the High Plains. In his latest project, he focuses on Alabama—a region with a complex relationship to the past. Spending four years in lower Alabama, Moore searched for what he called “that ‘deep history’ which resides in the humblest of settings.” And Alabama’s Black Belt—named for its fertile soil and deeply associated with the region’s African American culture—has that history. Before the Civil War, the region was the nation’s highest producer of cotton. Afterward, it was the site of some of the Jim Crow era’s most vicious violence and some of the Civil Rights Movement’s key battles.
Photographic history also runs thick through Alabama. The tenant farmers immortalized in James Agee and Walker Evans’ Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941) were residents, and some of the most famous images of the Civil Rights Movement—Bull Connor’s police dogs in Birmingham, the standoff at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma—were produced here.
Moore’s photographs of the Black Belt honor its complicated histories but depart from them, avoiding stereotypes and finding the hope, resilience and creativity that animate this place. With the photographer acting “as a listener at history’s doorstep,” Blue Alabama offers a tender, surprising portrait of the South—a region marked by economic, social and cultural divisions, but also a love of history, tradition and land. The book includes a previously unpublished story by award-winning American novelist Madison Smartt Bell.
American photographer Andrew Moore (born 1957) is celebrated for his large-format photographs that document the effects of time and change. His publications include Detroit Disassembled (2010), Cuba (2012) and Dirt Meridian (2015).
Featured image is reproduced from 'Andrew Moore: Blue Alabama.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Eugene Weekly
Todd Cooper
Blue Alabama is the type of work I daydream I’d be doing if I’d never left the South...This book is full of beautiful people, interiors and landscapes that the Lord may have sent his way.
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Saturday, October 19 from 1–3 PM, Yancey Richardson gallery presents the launch of Blue Alabama, the new book of photographs by Andrew Moore, published by Damiani. The artist will be present throughout the reception and signed copies will be available for purchase. continue to blog
Sunday, October 6 at 2 PM, the Marengo County Historical Society presents photographer Andrew Moore, speaking about and signing Blue Alabama, his new book focused on the Black Belt region of Alabama. Over four years spent in lower Alabama, Moore searched for what he called “that ‘deep history’ which resides in the humblest of settings.” Alabama’s Black Belt―named for its fertile soil and deeply associated with the region’s African American culture―has that history. continue to blog
"Ric and the Pointer, Dallas County, Alabama" (2017) is reproduced from Blue Alabama,Andrew Moore's new photography monograph from Damiani. "The gift, as I see it, in Andrew Moore’s artistry is more than his brilliant mastery of composition, color and emotion," Imani Perry writes. "It is also in his ethics. Each page is a frame, with a story that goes with it, and reaches beyond it. Moore instructs us as we look into the frame. Windows and doorways are everywhere. He tells the viewer: You are crossing a threshold. And we all know that any visitor who is respectful crosses a threshold with care. Looks without toppling. Sees without harsh judgment. He’s a tactful, though curious and mindful observer." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 13.75 x 10.75 in. / 160 pgs / 78 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $60.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $85 ISBN: 9788862086547 PUBLISHER: Damiani AVAILABLE: 9/17/2019 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Damiani. Preface by Imani Perry. Text by Andrew Moore, Madison Smartt Bell.
“Precious and rare are the images and essays about Alabama that I recognize as belonging to my home … Blue Alabama is different. This book is true to my home.” –Imani Perry, from the Preface
Andrew Moore photographs places in transition: Cuba, Detroit, the High Plains. In his latest project, he focuses on Alabama—a region with a complex relationship to the past. Spending four years in lower Alabama, Moore searched for what he called “that ‘deep history’ which resides in the humblest of settings.” And Alabama’s Black Belt—named for its fertile soil and deeply associated with the region’s African American culture—has that history. Before the Civil War, the region was the nation’s highest producer of cotton. Afterward, it was the site of some of the Jim Crow era’s most vicious violence and some of the Civil Rights Movement’s key battles.
Photographic history also runs thick through Alabama. The tenant farmers immortalized in James Agee and Walker Evans’ Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941) were residents, and some of the most famous images of the Civil Rights Movement—Bull Connor’s police dogs in Birmingham, the standoff at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma—were produced here.
Moore’s photographs of the Black Belt honor its complicated histories but depart from them, avoiding stereotypes and finding the hope, resilience and creativity that animate this place. With the photographer acting “as a listener at history’s doorstep,” Blue Alabama offers a tender, surprising portrait of the South—a region marked by economic, social and cultural divisions, but also a love of history, tradition and land. The book includes a previously unpublished story by award-winning American novelist Madison Smartt Bell.
American photographer Andrew Moore (born 1957) is celebrated for his large-format photographs that document the effects of time and change. His publications include Detroit Disassembled (2010), Cuba (2012) and Dirt Meridian (2015).
