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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eighty-five: On Tour – cruising the Mississippi from Memphis to the Gulf > Young listeners, Greater First Baptist Church, West Helena, Arkansas, 2012
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01-DEC-2012

Young listeners, Greater First Baptist Church, West Helena, Arkansas, 2012

These young children listen attentively to the gospel concert pictured in the previous image. Rather than make a close-up of them, I layer this photograph with two rows of church benches, giving context to the image. A number of children joined our group attending the concert of gospel music. Some were seated on stage with the singers, while this pair seek anonymity in a back row. All of these children were locals, and most likely were in attendance at the request of the singers themselves. All of them behaved well throughout the concert, although the young girl in red did briefly fall asleep towards the end of the performance. (She most likely has grown up with this music, and must hear it even in her sleep.)

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Phil Douglis04-Jan-2013 22:11
I had a similar thought as I saw these young children sitting so solemnly in the back row. Evans, with his lean, harsh style would have made a black and while image to remove all traces of sentimentality, while Rockwell certainly would have emphasized its warmth and "common folks touch" by presenting it in color. As for me, I prefer the color for the warmth of its wooden pews. I tried it in black and white, and the dark pews were funereal. I also cropped out a planting that was intruding at lower left. Thanks, Tim, for these observations.
Tim May04-Jan-2013 04:11
This image is for me a marriage of Normal Rockwell and Walker Evens. There is the harsh bare reality of Even's with the wit of Rockwell. I wonder what it would look like in black and white and with the green leaf in the corner gone.
Phil Douglis31-Dec-2012 03:09
The eyes do tell a story here, Carol. Kids will be kids, indeed. Their thoughts are probably on anything but the singing that they have heard over and over again.
Carol E Sandgren31-Dec-2012 02:18
I love the eyes of the two children gazing in opposite directions, and the way you show only the heads mostly emerging from the big pews of the church. To me this suggests they are young members of the congregation and have been for a long time with their families. Perhaps they are attentive but to me those eyes suggest maybe they are daydreaming of something else, but know they are supposed to be paying attention. Kids will be kids no matter where they are.
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