Cabbagetown

Rating:
Summary: barely touched by time
Review: One thinks when looking at these pictures that Cabbagetown was barely touched by time -- the dirty faces with their looks of tiredness or simple pleasure, the children spilling off of steps, the proud wives, families, and homeowners. Catledge caught Cabbagetown just before it began to disappear. Joyce Brookshire, cabbagetown folksinger, says that Catledge (who was legally blind) took pictures of people even she didn't know. Any Cabbagetown resident must have it, and I also suggest it for any fans of the rural South.

Rating:
Summary: Sensitive portraits in an unusual community
Review: The portraits in this book reveal a community of people who for decades had lived in a community cut off from the city around it. Because of the social services that the "mill community" offered until the later 20th century there was little reason or motivation for the residents of Cabbagetown to leave the community. When Oraien Catledge entered the community to photograph it, he found a place where time had seemed to stop. He has said it reminded him of the fifties, when he had visited impoverished families in rural Mississippi. These sensitive portraits took a decade to compile, and reveal the conditions of the area while also illuminating the pride and self will of the residents.