Through Their Lens: Photographing Freedom Summer
Most exhibitions, books, and other projects produced about the historic 1964 Mississippi Summer Project, more commonly known as Freedom Summer, have centered on the history of the training sessions and voter registration efforts in the deep South. Exhibitions on the subject typically feature photographs as supporting materials which provide a visual narrative. Through Their Lens: Photographing Freedom Summer takes a new approach by flipping the focus and allowing those behind the lens to tell their own backstories. The exhibition presents the most important photographers who documented the historic project, including Danny Lyon, Ted Polumbaum, Herbert Randall , Steve Schapiro, and Tamio Wakayama.
While numerous photographers focused on Freedom Summer in various deep South locations, Through Their Lens spotlights those who were in Oxford, Ohio, and carried on activities in Mississippi. Volunteers and photographers came to the Western College for Women in Oxford to train for Freedom Summer before traveling to the deep South. It is on these grounds that the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum stands, creating a deeply rooted connection between where the photographs were taken and where they are now presented. Many of the images presented are from Mississippi, the ground zero for the real work of Freedom Summer, during which photographers captured some of the most important images that represent the successes and tragedies of the Civil Rights Movement.
Artists: Danny Lyon, Ted Polumbaum, Herbert Randall, Steve Schapiro, Tamio Wakayama
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Steve Schapiro (American, b. 1934), We Shall Overcome; Freedom Summer Bus, 1964, 1964, Silver gelatin print, Miami University Art Museum Collection, Gift of Maura Smith
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Ted Polumbaum, Volunteers Singing Before Boarding Bus to Mississippi, 1964. Black and white photograph. Courtesy of the artist and Newseum Collection
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Herbert Randall, Volunteers Practice Nonviolent Self-defense, June 1964, 1964. Black and white photograph. Courtesy of the artist and University of Southern Mississippi
Venue Details
Miami University: Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum
801 S Patterson Ave
Oxford, OH 45056
(513) 529-2232
Tue–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat Noon–5pm
Free to the Public
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