The Arkansas Delta has been called the soul of the South, a place ruled by race, a forgotten place. Eugene Richards first went there in 1969, a year after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a time when cotton, religion, prejudice, and poverty characterized most people’s lives. Increasingly drawn to this beautiful, sorrowful place, Richards would stay for four years, until the community service organization and newspaper he helped found were forced to close. But over the years he would keep returning. Red Ball of a Sun Slipping Down speaks of life in the Arkansas Delta forty years go and today. Black-and-white photographs made long years ago are interwoven with recent color photographs and, in turn, with a short story.
Artist Bios
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Eugene Richards
Eugene Richards is a photographer, writer, and filmmaker who has authored numerous books. His first publication, Few Comforts or Surprises (1973), which speaks of the lives of sharecroppers in the Arkansas Delta, was followed by Dorchester Days (1978), a portrait of the inner-city neighborhood where he was born. Subsequent books include Cocaine True, Cocaine Blue (1994), a study of the impact of hardcore drugs on inner city communities, and War Is Personal (2010), a documentation of the consequences of the Iraq war. Recent books include The Day I Was Born (2020), which focuses on life and protest in the racially divided Delta of Arkansas and In This Brief Life (2023), a look back at 50 years of photographic work.
Among numerous honors, Richards has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Award, the Kraszna-Krausz Book Award for Photographic Innovation, and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for coverage of the disadvantaged.
Organizations
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Many Voices
Many Voices is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization, founded in 1999, with the intent of producing books and films on contemporary social issues.
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United Photo Industries (UPI)
United Photo Industries (UPI) is a New York based nonprofit organization that works to promote a wider understanding of, and increased access to, the art of photography.
Since its founding in 2011, UPI has rapidly solidified its position in the public art landscape by continuing to showcase thought-provoking, challenging, and exceptional photography from across the globe. In its first seven years, UPI has presented the work of more than 2,500 visual artists in gallery exhibitions and public art installations worldwide.
Red Ball of a Sun Slipping Down
Featuring: Eugene Richards
Curated by: Eugene Richards Sam Richards
Locations
View Location Details Download a detailed map of this location Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
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Learn MoreFor the Love of Books: Red Ball of a Sun Slipping Down
In his presentation, Richards will show excerpts from earlier self-published works, among them Dorchester Days (1978), a study of the inner city neighborhood where he was born, and War is Personal (2010), a chronicle of the consequences of the Iraq War. He will then discuss the motivations, struggles, and joy of creating his deeply personal new book.
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