Bruce Lurie Gallery to Host Lisa McCord Exhibition, Book Signing

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor

Bruce Lurie Gallery will host Alphabet Streets resident Lisa McCord as she presents her recently published book, “Rotan Switch,” as well as an exhibition of her work, April 16 to 18.

Her work will be on display April 16 to 18 from 12 to 6 p.m. A viewing of the exhibition and book signing event will take place Thursday, April 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.

McCord is a fine art and documentary photographer who lives and works out of Los Angeles and Arkansas. “Rotan Switch” is McCord’s first monograph, documenting life on her grandparents’ cotton farm in the Arkansas Delta community of Rotan.

“I was 21 years old when I began photographing Rotan Switch,” McCord said to the Palisadian-Post. “This project spans 45 years—from 1978 to present day—following five generations of a community.”

McCord said though she has lived in many places, home for her remains “firmly rooted” in the Arkansas land and people.

“I developed close relationships with the people who worked on the farm,” McCord explained. “They welcomed me into their homes, we’d share fried chicken and black-eyed peas, meet at the cafe where they relaxed at the end of a hard work week, and at church on Sundays, we’d sing ‘Sweet Jesus, Carry Me Home.’”

She described the photographs she captured as “complicated,” and her ability to observe and document them reflects “a position of privilege.”

“These photographs … exist in the context of the socioeconomic structures of the rural South,” she said. “The images are coupled with my own memories, as well as reflections by the people in the photographs. These images are a record of my story of Rotan and the Arkansas Delta, 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.”

Printed and bound in Germany, “Rotan Switch” is 204 pages of McCord’s analog photographs, family snapshots and monochrome photographs, color polaroids and recipes. It is available for purchase for $64 on McCord’s website.

She invited the community to her exhibition and book signing at Bruce Lurie Gallery—located at 873 Via De La Paz.

For more information or to purchase “Rotan Switch,” visit lisamccordphotography.com/rotanswitchbook.