The photographer shares his view and experience on the art work by stating: “What I quickly realized was that I was fast becoming enamored of this flawed place: its poverty, its psychological isolation, and its fierce — sometimes dueling — sense of individuality and community.” Coming from a small town almost like Vidor, Texas (where the photographs were taken) and seeing the single and family portraits depicted in the gallery, that yes, there is a strong sense of isolation because of their community. David Anderson comments that he first went to the town to look for evidence of the Ku Klux Klan after a rural man suggested Vidor for it had “no black people.” It seems that long before an economic separation occurred, the community decided to that they would be racially divided from the rest of the country. The only real sense of individuality portrayed in the photographs is the feeling that this people must depend on themselves to survive because nobody else is going to help them.
One photo titled “Ray Wilson” shows a shirtless, older man who has that ultimate presence of survival. He is sitting behind a simple desk, which has on the surface two packs of Marlboro Reds, two cans of Miller High Life, and a few undistinguishable papers. Ray has a buzz cut with faded out tattoos on each arm and his eyes are surrounded by wrinkles. His appearance alone reminds me of any man who served in the military during the Vietnam War and the image is enforced more by the picture of Marilyn Monroe hanging on the wall behind his left side and an Army propaganda poster that says, “Shut the fuck up! Let us do our job!” Ray has a undemanding look on his face in which he is not happy or sad and does not wish to be judged from an outsider.
Another photograph called “Bobby and His Boys” shows a heavily-bearded, middle-aged man standing beside his two sons. Bobby is dressed in a mechanic’s uniform consisting of dark pants and a buttoned, collared shirt with thick patches in cursive lettering stating his name and the place where he works. Bobby’s sons are both overweight and are wearing blue jeans in which they have become too tall to have on their bodies. The three look as though they were thinking, “Are you done yet?” as Anderson took the picture. There is an admirable closeness between them and also a sense of normalcy even though right behind them are stacks of compressed cars.
Lastly, the photograph “Preacher’s Family” is worth viewing because of how it stands out among the rest of the collection. “Rough Beauty” shows us image after image of poor conditions were most of the people are wearing raggedy clothes and are dirty from having to stay outside, however that does not appear to be the case in the “Preacher’s Family.” The man has a nice suit on with the jacket thrown over his arm with The Bible clutched in one hand. The preacher has a cell phone clipped to his belt and a slightly pissed-off look on his face. At his side, he has two preteen daughters with one holding a toddler and they are both wearing nice dresses. The family must have just gotten back home because the truck door is open and they are standing in the driveway in front of their home. The preacher’s family is in no way wealthy according to our standards, but compared to the rest of Vidor they must be viewed as royalty.
The whole exhibit of “Rough Beauty” has many more photographs on display and they are all worth taking the time to unveil the meaning behind each of them. Although the works of art are beautiful, it bothers me that Anderson wanted his audience to perceive poverty in such a way. The mood of the people may not have been “good or bad, happy or sad,” because they do not have any other choice but to simply live in those conditions.
