The Southern Journey of Alan Lomax: Words, Photographs, and Music

Between August 1959 and May 1960, the great folk music archivist Alan Lomax traveled through Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia on what has become known as his "Southern Journey." During that trip, Lomax was not only seeking the folk music of the region in prisons, on farms, and in churches, he was also taking photographs of the musicians themselves. Largely unpublished, these essential photographic documents provide a stunning portrait of the lives of the musicians. As Piazza (True Adventures with the King of Bluegrass: Jimmy Martin) points out in his introduction, Lomax "sometimes got so close in that he seemed to be trying to enter the musicians' skin." Some of the most moving photos are those taken at the Mississippi State Prison at Parchman, which capture men in prison garb interacting warmly with their wives, children, or girlfriends. Every photo in this collection brings to life Lomax's recordings.