SOUTHERN MISFITS

            Growing up in the South while being raised on non-southern traditions and values forged an obvious, communal divide for me between myself the average Southerner since a young age. This notion of the atypical Southerner is what charged this photographic series, Southern Misfits, as it highlights the parts of the South that I personally identify with by visually contradicting its resurfacing history through an array of documentary and constructed photographs. This series urged me to question what the stereotypical South looked like and in turn made me ponder the wounded reverse of that.

            The South is littered with opposing forces pulsing through its polluted people, lonely landscapes and unjust traditions. Southern Misfits is a creative rebellion and documentation of what spaces are burdened with these repeating, societal quarrels. It was necessary for me to include reoccurring symbols of the South and more importantly, the people who witness these social unrests more often than not - a Mexican immigrant woman and a black man.

            My intention is to purposefully denounce the historical rebels of the South by instead emphasizing the individuals and moments that are innately affected by these circumstances the most. The true Southern Rebels are the folks who come with peace in a place that didn’t intend on welcoming them. These photographs are my physical proof that there is still light left to be seen here, and the reason why so many of us Southern Misfits choose to stubbornly stay. As it is a hopeful alliance against the constant clash between what once was and what glint is still left, perhaps if that particular glimmer is only the Southern Misfits after all.