10/11/2022
Shellmound Plantation, LeFlore County, MS.
My good friend David Wharton died a couple of weeks ago. I met David in February 2002 at The University of Mississippi where he was the Director of Documentary Studies at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. After meeting at the Center and showing my work to David and his students, I suggested that we photograph together sometime. David responded to my suggestion by stating that he didn’t think that it would be possible, that to him the process of making images was highly personal. To my surprise, he was at my house a few weeks later, and we photographed together ever since. It only took a short amount of time for us to learn each other’s eye and when we went out it was seamless and intuitive. We spent hours in Oxford, Tallahassee, and Carrabelle reviewing photographs and talking about the direction of our work. We photographed together, we presented together, and we exhibited together. The best part of our relationship was the friendship that developed between our families. There was a lot of laughter and love. I posted this photograph because it was one of those times David and I were out photographing on the Mississippi Delta, a day when the air was crisp, and the light was perfect, a day that my Professor, R.T. Clark would say “you take notice and give thanks”. I was remembering that when I was composing my image under the dark cloth. When I took my dark cloth away, David was standing right next to me looking out on the scene. Filled with emotion, he announced that it was a privilege to be able to do what we do. Agreed. Moreover, it was a privilege to have known and photographed with David.
