Native Son brings together photographs made on road trips back to my birthplace–Decatur, Georgia–and the greater American South. Inspired by a letter written by my biological mother in 1985, I made my first trip to Decatur in October 2009, keen on establishing a relationship with this place I imagined, desired, and felt deeply connected.

As an outsider, my process was reliant on chance, intuition, and the grace of strangers. Conversational exchanges provided opportunities to listen, inquire, observe, and in turn, absorb a multitude of diverse perspectives, histories, and facets of lived experience. In search of shared moments–family, I was working to assemble a personal portrait authentic to my encounters within this American region’s profound beauty, socioeconomic realities, mythologies, and palpable legacies of racism and violence. 

Taken together, the photographs collected and published as Native Son (VUU, 2014 & 2015), seek to offer a nuanced and lyrical interpretation of an American South while underscoring a profound respect, gratitude, and empathy for the individuals depicted. Native Son is the first chapter of an ongoing, long-term body of work.