Random Excellence: Eric Etheridge

Freedom Rider Miller Green was a high school student in Jackson, Mississippi, when he was arrested on July 6th, 1961. Today he lives in Chicago. Contemporary portrait by Eric Etheridge. From the book Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders. Miller recently joined Eric as he gave talks about the book at public libraries in Cleveland, Ohio, and Flint and Kalamazoo, Michigan.

"In the spring and summer of 1961, several hundred Americans—blacks and whites, men and women—converged on Jackson, Mississippi, to challenge state segregation laws. The Freedom Riders, as they came to be known, were determined to open up the South to civil rights.... Over 300 people were arrested and convicted of the charge 'breach of the peace.'

"The name, mug shot, and other personal details of each Freedom Rider arrested were duly recorded and saved by agents of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission...what is clear, forty-six years later, is that by carefully recording names and preserving the mug shots, the Commission inadvertently created a testament to these heroes of the civil rights movement."

Mike
(Thanks to Scott Kirkpatrick)

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Featured Comment by Steve Rosenbach: "Thanks for highlighting this book, Mike. I was an 11-year-old in 1961, and I remember the Civil Rights struggles through the early to mid-1960's very well. We've come a long way, but books like this make sure we remember what it was like and what it took to get here.

"I generally like 'where-are-they-now' books, but this one is much more weighty and serious. The layout seems very good—here's a sample two-page spread:

"Beautiful B&W photography, and of course, the subjects of these photos are great and brave Americans, whom it is right to honor with such a magnificent book."

Featured Comment by Eric Etheridge: "Mike, thanks for the shoutout.

"For folks who are interested, there are more pictures, and material I gathered that I didn't have room for in the book, here: breachofpeace.com."

Comments

[Frank]

This is a very good example of what photography can do about the history.

Regards to those heroes. Regards to the photographer.

[Tim McDevitt]

What a superb idea for a book! Juxtaposing the magnificent photographic portraits against the harsh mug shots illustrates the range of portraiture: from pure documentary to character captured by the skillful use of light and background. Portrait photography at its best is one of the highest arts achieved with the camera.

[Ken Tanaka]

Posted by: Frank : "This is a very good example of what photography can do about the history."

Can you be more specific about your remark?

[Andreas]

This is why we love TOP.

And don't dare to sell it! ;-))

[Eric Etheridge]

Mike:

Thanks for the shoutout.

For folks who are interested, there are more pictures, and material I gathered that I didn't have room for in the book, here: breachofpeace.com

EE

[amadou diallo]

Having had the privilege of printing Eric's Breach of Peace show at the High Museum last year, I highly recommend the portraiture work he has assembled for the book. If you can, check out one of Eric's readings/book signings.