Church, Sprott, Alabama, William Christenberry

Exhibition Label: "Constructions of Place: Architecture in Photography," Jan-1991, Erin Barnett During the 1970s, Christenberry began taking pictures in Hale County, Alabama, the region not only where he was raised but also the site of many of Walker Evans’s photographs from the 1930s. Christenberry rephotographed many of his predecessor’s subjects in color. Although both photographers depict the buildings frontally, Christenberry’s small prints seem to miniaturize the vernacular structures. Exhibition Label: "Signs of Faith: Photographs from the Collection," Oct-2001, Elissa L.Anderson Christenberry’s intimate portrait of a small church in west-central Alabama’s rural Hale County explores the integral relationships between religion, place, and memory. The church is located near the artist’s childhood home and was photographed in 1936 by Walker Evans for the Works Progress Administration. Evan’s original picture was part of a project to document the effects of the Depression in the Deep South. Christenberry’s, however, is a nostalgic reflection of the place he knew in his youth as much as it is homage to Evans. The two artists later recalled their memories of this church when they visited it together on a 1973 road trip.