Photography exhibition October 15–November 30, 2009
A new, multimedia book by William Ferris has just been released by UNC Press. Photographs from the book, Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues, will be shown in an exhibition, curated by Ann Stewart, at UNC's Center for the Study of the American South. The photographs will be on view through November 30th.
The Center for the Study of the American South is located at the Love House and Hutchins Forum at 410 East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.
"Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, folklorist William Ferris toured his home state of Mississippi, documenting the voices of African Americans as they spoke about and performed the diverse musical traditions that form the authentic roots of the blues. Now, Give My Poor Heart Ease puts front and center a searing selection of the artistically and emotionally rich voices from this invaluable documentary record. Illustrated with Ferris's photographs of the musicians and their communities and including a CD of original music and a DVD of original film, the book features more than twenty interviews relating rank, dramatic, and engaging narratives about black life and blues music in the heart of the American South."—UNC Press
"Blues and jazz are America's most treasured gifts to the world. These powerful stories bring us face to face with the blues and remind us that the music used to survive in the face of adversity and terror."—Quincy Jones
"I reveled in these stories."—Toni Morrison