My Alabama
John Dersham Photographs a State
Title Details
Pages: 224
Illustrations: 220 color photos
Trim size: 11.000in x 8.500in
Formats
Hardcover
Pub Date: 05/15/2019
ISBN: 9-781-5883-8340-2
List Price: $40.00
Imprint
NewSouth BooksRelated Subjects
PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Regional
TRAVEL / United States / South / East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)
My Alabama
John Dersham Photographs a State
Skip to
- Description
- Reviews
Alabama — what’s the state known for? Slavery, the Civil War, segregation, civil rights, football. All true. But then there’s this: the most biologically diverse state east of the Mississippi; the fifth most-forested by percent of land mass; one of the richest river complexes in the world; home to the most aquatic species in the nation, the wettest city, the largest inland delta system; five distinct physiographic regions, from coastal to prairie to piney woods to mountains to piedmont to plateau; and four real seasons. What that adds up to, if you’re as talented as master photographer John Dersham, is a canvas of spectacular beauty.
In My Alabama, Dersham presents 200 images revealing the diversity and beauty of the 22nd state as it celebrates its 200th birthday. The book is loosely organized around the four seasons, and its images are mostly landscapes, though the built environment makes appearances—from the busy port of Mobile to rural churches and schools.
No other Alabama picture book ranges across the entire state like this one, and the quality and composition of Dersham’s images are a visual feast. Captions provide location data and key facts; a few interspersed brief essays offer additional background. An index links places and themes, and a photo log reveals how specific images were made.
My Alabama: John Dersham Photographs a State is a master artist’s loving but exacting visual survey of his adopted home. Through 200 of his photos selected for the state’s 200th birthday, Dersham reveals Alabama’s striking natural beauty and ecological diversity, with occasional images of the built environment rounding out the portrait.
—Jay Lamar, Director of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, Alabama 200
—Chip Cooper, Artist in Residence, Honors College, The University of Alabama
—Randy Grider, Executive Director, Mentone Arts & Cultural Center
—David Haynes, photographer, author of Motorcycling Alabama
—Tami Reist, President & CEO, Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association
—Beth Maynor Finch, conservation photographer, author of Headwaters: A Journey on Alabama Rivers