Rotan Switch

Lisa McCord

When I first discovered this author, her story immediately captivated me. I decided to purchase her book even before reaching out to request permission to review it. Once I held it in my hands, I realised that it was a truly beautiful autobiography. The book immerses the reader in the environment of Lisa's grandparents’ cotton farm located in Rotan, Arkansas. McCord provides an engaging narrative that details her experiences in this setting, illustrating the lives of the individuals who inhabited the area and reflecting on the formative years she spent growing up there. It offers a beautiful description of the rural South in the United States.

This photo book presents a remarkable journey, inviting readers to engage with its pages as if they were part of a captivating narrative. While you can appreciate the emotional beauty of each image at your leisure, the true enrichment comes from following the story as it unfolds, seamlessly guiding you from beginning to end.

Flipping through "Rotan Switch" feels like browsing a family album; you can sense the author's presence, and gradually, it evolves into a reflection of her diary. Only by stepping back and reflecting can you truly grasp the significance of the challenging documentary work the author has accomplished.

This compelling book explores profound themes of connection and separation, encouraging readers to contemplate the complexities of its geographical roots and the rich tapestry of personal stories that emerge from this unique place. Lisa uses photographs to reconstruct a narrative that is both ambiguous and always feels tangible. Documentary photography inherently serves as a means of revelation; it uncovers truths and reveals hidden aspects of reality. It provides evidence and gives a voice to the subjects being represented.

I believe that Lisa's presentation is the best way to showcase this book.

B.H.

“Rotan Switch documents life on my grandparents’ cotton farm in the Arkansas Delta community of Rotan.

It takes its name from the community’s central landmark – the railroad switch where farmers loaded their cotton bales onto trains headed out of the Delta. Although it has not been used in years, it remains a potent symbol of the complex intersections of industry and agriculture, of racism and injustice. This project spans forty-five years, from 1978 to 2021, following five generations of a community.

These photographs are complicated; they exist in the context of the socioeconomic structures of the rural South. Although the subjects are family to me, as a white photographer and the granddaughter of a landowner, my photographs of the Black community implicate my own role in reinforcing these power structures. In a community in which most people spend their time working or caring for children, my ability to observe and document in itself has been a position of privilege.

I’ve lived in many places, but my idea of home remains firmly rooted in the Arkansas land and people. I have come to realize that all the photographs I made at Rotan are explorations of home. I’ve also come to realize that the place I call home is not perfect.

These images are a record of my story of Rotan, a story that is specific to my and my family’s role in a place where inequities exist to this day. I have done my best to acknowledge this complicated history.”

Lisa McCord

"There is a symbolic relationship between storytelling and being Southern."

Aline Smithson