As Surefooted With the Shutter as With the Pen

Country Churchyards of Mississippi by Eudora Welty

Most may have at least a fleeting acquaintance with Eudora Welty's works, whether fiction or non-fiction. What many may not know is that she was also a photographer of some stature, though never commercially. Her works have a reflective, haunting quality, not unlike some of those by Clarence John Laughlin, whose black and white photographs of the great houses of Louisiana remain classics today.

The Quiet Lady From Pinehurst Street

Welty was always a quiet one. At least in person, she was always quiet, modest and deferential to others. Perhaps in getting out of the confines of Jackson, still in her words "a country town", she was able to find something unique in her state, and in her peculiar time and place. Find it she did. These photographs speak volumes in their stark simplicity. Haunting, moody and sad, these images document a rural way of life which has passed on. Some may find these images simple, but there is more here than meets the eye. The photographs do mean more when one has a basic knowledge of her writing.

Why Were These Not Published Before?

Many may wonder why these beautful images were left unpublished for so long. Indeed, most of the images in this book were taken in the 1930's, when Welty was a photographer for the Works Progress Administration. Welty never touted her photographic work. It was not until near the end of her life when some of her best photographs would rest between the covers of books. One Time, One Place was the first of these, and we hope that Country Churchyards will not be the last. With any luck, Richard Ford, the novelist and executor of her estate, will discover more of her works within her house on Pinehurst Street.

The Photographs

Most of the photographs in the book were taken in the old towns along the Natchez Trace or in towns near Jackson. This makes some sense when one realizes that this is where most of the big money was in Mississippi in the years when the fashion for building elaborate mausolaea was at its peak. The text is interspersed with a few quotations from Welty's work, but the photographs are mostly left to stand upon their own merits. One may sneer at what may appear to be almost maudlin photographs of angels and cupids, but as one who played in cemeteries as a child (PK that I am), the haunting quality of cemeteries is not lost in her work. Welty herself admits to having played in cemeteries as a child.

The Rest of the Text

The introduction by Elizabeth Spencer is appreciative and respectful, but her writing falls flat beside the controlled elegance of Welty's prose. There is simply no comparison. The preface by Hunter Cole is perhaps better, with less florid writing.

A Personal Note

The first photographs in the book depict Christ Church at Church Hill, near Natchez. I recall my father presiding at a funeral here one winter's day, the wind billowing in his flowing cape. Welty's photographs capture the touching desolation and majesty of the place, now merely a satellite of Trinity Church in Natchez.

Who Might Enjoy This Book

For one who enjoys the photographic works of William Eggleston, Walker Evans, Clarence John Laughlin and others, Welty's photographic bequest is a fairly small, but rich one. Never caring much to shout about her talents, Welty left it to others to discover her worth. You may wish to discover it as well.

--T. Barnes