Point-of-View: JefVanderLou
Scott Joplin State Historic Site, DNR, Through March 15
PPRC Photography Project Gallery, UMSL, Through April 6
RAC Blogger: Debra Kokorudz

 
As I searched the Arts Zipper Calendar for this week’s subject matter, I was really looking for something out of the ordinary. Something that was off the beaten path, unexpected and enlightening. I settled on a PPRC Photography Project Point-of-View Exhibition entitled, Point-of-View: JeffVanderLou. Every year, “PPRC’s Photography Project teaches volunteer community groups how to photograph the work they do to improve the quality of life in St. Louis.” The photographs are then displayed at the PPRC Gallery on the campus of UMSL and at a location in the community that was photographed.

I made my way to the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site at 2658a Delmar, to view the photos. I had never been there before, so I felt like I was getting two prizes in one box of Cracker Jacks. Nestled in the heart of the JefVanderLou neighborhood, it was the perfect location to reflect on the changing times and examine hopes for the future.

The JVL neighborhood is bound by Jefferson, Vandeventer and St. Louis Avenues between downtown and midtown. The PPRC worked with neighborhood youth in the Gear-Up St. Louis program at Williams 9th Grade Academy and Vashon High School to photograph the JVL. Historic photos were displayed at a community meeting where students asked senior citizens questions about the neighborhood, its buildings and community life. The resulting exhibition juxtaposes the new and old photographs, and incorporates excerpts from the conversations with senior citizens as well as reflections on their work by the young photographers.

I really enjoyed the fact that I was viewing the photos in the neighborhood itself. I felt a very organic link to the material, like I was a part of it, in the middle of it. The voices of the seniors and the students guided me through the exhibition like an internal audio tour. A variety of topics, from segregation to jazz were discussed and photographed. Resident Betty Jackson reminisced about her school days, “I made my history by being the first female trombonist at Vashon High School. My parents would not let me go out with the fellas for the jazz… So I got cute and left it alone.” A photo of Civil Rights activist Percy Green prompted a conversation about segregation. Betty Jackson then commented that African-Americans could go to the Fox Theatre, but “It had to be something special.” In the text next to a photograph of the entrance to The Steak House restaurant, Otha Willis added, “The only place you could eat was across the street at The Steak House.”  

I was impressed with the talent of the young photographers, their inspiration and their sense of irony. Melva Taylor photographed a large, abandoned office building, looking up at an angle to see broken windows covered in plastic and commented, “This building had the look of New York. It captured me.” Merlin Bell’s photo entitled, The Perfect Image, shows a sign for a barber shop of the same name, with a man standing next to it lighting a cigarette. He commented that it “…shows a negative image of something next to a positive image.” And Anthony Mayes had the ultimate eye for irony with his untitled photo of a doorway with two signs stacked on top of one another to read: “Absolutely No Children” “Must Be 18 with Valid I.D.” Standing next to the doorway are two young teens.

This is a very unique exhibit in so many ways. It is historic, inspiring, local, involved, personal, and beautiful. On my way back home, I just happened to pass a house that was photographed in the project. And I saw the beauty the very beauty that had been captured through the lens with my own eyes.