Professor Christopher Jordan did not know the Black Belt well when he decided to take his photography students into the field to document the region s artists and crafts makers. What they found were people turning often meagre material into creative masterpieces. We were struck by the resourcefulness of the artists, Jordan said.
The students work, completed mainly last summer, became the Black Belt Artist Project, a collection of portraits and video interviews of basket makers, weavers, quilters, painters and sculptors. The photos are on exhibit through January 29 at University of Alabama and also were collected into a book created by the school s graphic design students.