We Are Selma: The Selma Portrait Project examines the connection between home and identity through imagery and storytelling. Residents of the photographer’s hometown of Selma, Alabama, were photographed using the wet plate collodion ambrotype process, while audio recordings of their experiences were also captured. The project highlights Selma’s extremely complicated past as a pivotal placeholder in the rich history of the civil rights movement and Selma’s current-day quest to move forward amongst such complex burdens. The slowness of the collodion process and the collaborative nature of the work honors the cultural currency of areas and cultures where communication is both key to unification and fodder for misunderstanding. The highly reflective quality of the glass plates allows the viewer to see themselves in each portrait, bringing to mind questions of personal responsibility, obligation, and accountability, allowing both the sitter and viewer to see themselves as “ancestor” contemplating their own legacy.
