SUMMER

Dudley

Lena's 6 Months

Charleston

Harper & Sid

Mountains

Artist Emulation - William Christenberry

William Christenberry was born in 1936, and he is a well known painter, sculptor, and photographer. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelors and Masters degree in fine arts. Christenberry's themes reflect his childhood experiences that were created in Hale County, Alabama. He now lives in Washington, D.C., but travels to Hale County each summer to revisit places from his childhood. William Christenberry was motivated to take these pictures after seeing photos that Walker Evans took of families that lived in Hale County during the Great Depression. After he began taking photos of Hale County, Walker Evans accompanied Christenberry on one of his trips in 1973. This was Walker Evans first visit back to Hale County since he photographed the Great Depression in 1936. It was also Walker Evans last trip to Hale County, but it certainly was not William Christenberry's last trip. He documents the changes of these places from his childhood through his paintings, sculptures, and photos.
Christenberry is more commonly known for his photos. He finds abandoned buildings, rusted signs, kudzu-infested fields, gourd trees, old warehouses, and white country churches to photograph when he makes his yearly visit. His most famous photos were taken in the 60's and 70's. These famous pictures of Christenberry's rarely include people because emotional neutrality is preferred when he documents the places from his childhood. He documents the character, changes, and beauty of the old buildings and places from his childhood, and that is what he is most known for.
William Christenberry's work has been in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, along with a few other well known museums. Christenberry is currently teaching painting, but is still more commonly known as a photographer and multi-media artist.
I chose to emulate William Christenberry so I could explore some rural areas around Hoover that are similar to Hale County. I think there are many interesting old buildings and objects that have a lot of character and would be interesting to photograph.