Everyone has heard about the Nasher, but great, evocative art can be found in unlikely places if one knows where to look. Tom Rankin, Director of the Center for Documentary Studies here at Duke, expresses himself not only through film but also through the art of photography. Rankin's exhibit, Near the Cross: Photographs from the Mississippi Delta, is currently available for perusal in Perkins Library.
Presented strictly in black and white on gelatin-silver prints, the photographs capture perfectly the essence of the relationship between rural black Southerners and their faith. From austere churches standing isolated in a seemingly-virginal country untouched by man to portraits of wise stalwart pastors, Rankin's camera explores a place unchanged since the time of our grandfathers and beyond.
"I've always had a real interest in the way the sacred and the safe get articulated visually in the landscape and through interiors by things like outdoor baptisms," Rankin said.
Indeed, the intimate pictures capturing idyllic baptisms in the exhibit convey a raw connection between faith and the land.
"Something ordinary like the bank of a pond, the way people use it for a baptismal pool transforms it into something sacred-not only religious but with great meaning," the artist said.
The oldest photographs in the exhibit date back to 1989, while the most recent are from 2007. The photos themselves give no indication of their origin in time, and it is instead the captions that give it away.
Walking down the hallway, one gains the sense that the photos converse which each other across the aisle. The older photos seem to share wisdom and give testimony to the power of sacred spaces, while the more recent photos reflect the fact that even in today's age people live as they did many decades ago. Needless to say, the time encompassed in his work is a sign of Rankin's bond with the Delta.
"I'm interested in following what happens and how these spaces change over time," he said.
The actual location of the exhibit is often overlooked by busy Duke students. As a part of the Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library, the exhibit doesn't exactly scream fine art.
"Basically, we only show materials that we have in our collection," Visual Materials Archivist Karen Glynn said. "The collecting guidelines we follow with photography is documentary work."
Such collections are not only art to be enjoyed by the public, but also visually-stimulating resources available for Duke students to explore.
"The purpose is to inform the faculty and inform the students of what we have and that they can be used," Glynn added.
The South represented in Rankin's exhibit serves as a counterpart and complement to this familiar environment and is a solid reminder of the commonalities between all people.
Near the Cross will be on display at the Special Collections Gallery in first floor Perkins until March 23. There will also be an artist talk on Feb.27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Rare Books Room of Perkins Library.
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