by Rosanne Cash
First published 2024
Pete Candler loads his camera and hits the road through the American South's forgotten places. For twenty-five years he has driven these backroads, stopping to photograph what remains and what has been lost. Candler comes from one of Georgia's prominent families, but this heritage carries weight he must reckon with. His ancestors participated in the South's system of white supremacy, and their actions shaped the landscape he now documents. Each mile forces him to confront uncomfortable truths about his lineage and the region's history. The photographs he takes become more than images. They capture the tension between remembering and forgetting that defines how Americans understand the South. Candler discovers that confronting family history requires both courage and humility. His journey reveals that understanding the past means accepting how much work remains undone.
Genres: american, biography-memoir, 21st-century, photography, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: confronting-the-past, family-secrets
Setting: American South, Georgia
Period: 20th century, 21st century
395 pages · Kindle Edition · University of South Carolina Press
Content warnings: racism