The photos above are by Jack Leigh (8 November 1948 – 19 May 2004) of Savannah. Best known for the "Bird Girl" photo on the cover of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, his work touches on all aspects of the low country region. He died right as I was graduating college and his gallery was soon shut down thereafter. He's buried in Bonaventure Cemetery, the most beautiful cemetery by my books, and fitting as it was the original home of the "Bird Girl" until it had to be moved to the Telfair Museum due to several attempts of robbery.
These shots are culled from "The Ogeechee: A River and it's People." In the collection, Leigh talks with locals and learns how exactly they live off the land and water. Those who live by the river journey into town every so often for little more than coffee, cigarettes, and conversation. Muck running, baptisms, bluegrass dance parties, and beating snakes out of a canoe are all covered in text or beautifully photographed. Below is a quote that sums up so much of why I've not just taken comfort in water but also why memories of times spent through one's life at the river, lake, or beach have a certain sort of sweetness. Water is lands aisle seat after all, the big escape, the uncertain expanse of possibility.
"There's something timeless about the river that allows you to take your problems to it, and your problems become part of that timeless feeling. Then those problems don't look so large, and you can sort things out."
- George Darden, Resident of Hancock County/River Lover
No comments:
Post a Comment