One time, one place

Mississippi in the depression; a snapshot album.

de Eudora Welty

Eudora Welty is among the very few authors who are acclaimed for their work in both literature and photography. It was twenty-five years ago that she surprised her readers with this important book, for in One Time, One Place many of them discerned for the first time that this revered writer was also a gifted photographer. Throughout her writing career Welty's camera was a close companion. The one hundred pictures included here are her selections from many she took during the Great Depression as she traveled in her home state of Mississippi. These pictures are poignant images of human endurance. For her, looking back in 1971, they showed a record of a time and a place, an impoverished world that against great odds sustained a sense of community. Both black and white, the men, women, and children she photographed, unaware that they are coping with dire conditions, press onward with their lives. "The Depression, in fact," Welty says in her introduction, "was not a noticeable phenomenon in the poorest state in the Union.". In the foreword to this Silver Anniversary Edition of One Time, One Place William Maxwell, Eudora Welty's dear friend and esteemed colleague in literature, offers an appreciation of this photographer's special genius and a loving glimpse into her artistic world.