In The Land of Cotton (6 Photos)
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| All photos © Kathleen Robbins |
Raised in the Mississippi Delta, photographer Kathleen Robbins has photographed rural life in the region in two bodies of work. Starting in 2003, when she began teaching at the University of South Carolina, she made repeated trips to to Belle Chase, her family’s farm, to explore familial obligations and her relationship with “home” in a project she calls “Into the Flatland.” Robbins says, “This is land that my family has inhabited for generations, and I am pulled to this place in a way that I am not able to fully articulate.”
Her new, ongoing series, “In Cotton,” looks at the lives of rural cotton farmers in the Yazoo Mississippi Delta. During the 2011 growing season, Robbins and writer Mary Carol Miller spent five weeks with ten farm families. Her work on the series continues.
Robbins, who is represented by Jennifer Schwartz Gallery in Atlanta, has had her work exhibited at The Light Factory, Rayko Gallery, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and other venues. She is coordinator of the photography program at the University of South Carolina. This week, she was named first place winner of the 2011 PhotoNOLA Review Prize, selected by reviewers at the PhotoNOLA Portfolio Review in December 2011.
Top and above: Images from “Into the Flatland”
Blackbirds, from “Into the Flatland”
An interior image, part of Robbins’ ongoing series “In Cotton”
Burning Field, from “In Cotton”
Whittington Foyer, “In Cotton”
Tags: cotton farmers, In Cotton, Into the Flatland, Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, Kathleen Robbins, Mississippi Delta
January 3rd, 2012 at 12:14 pm EEST
I really enjoy the Robbins’ image at the top. The composition is simple yet interesting color gives the image quite a punch – very nice! Kudos on the image.
January 5th, 2012 at 3:23 pm EEST
These are timeless, beautiful images that clearly show the photographer’s connection to her subject. The photographs all tell a story; they have a narrative, they’ve drawn me in, and I’d like to know more about them….who lives and farms there, what are their stories and their connections to Ms. Robbins. I love these photographs, the colors, compositions….everything works marvelously.