A five-year portrait of life and love in the Mississippi Delta

Phyllis B. Dooney headed for the Mississippi Delta looking for answers. As a self-described “Yankee from New England”, she wanted to learn more about the South – a region that shaped the US in ways still resonating today.

One place in particular stood out: Greenville, a river city with a layered history and a once-thriving economy.

It was there that the photographer found herself in a nostalgic karaoke bar called Spectators, with an old cigarette machine tucked in the corner and tables packed with people from a mixture of backgrounds.

Phyllis had done her research – meeting with local nonprofits, studying the city’s history – and was on the lookout for a character whose story could bring the place to life.

“After college, I had worked as a photo art director and eventually decided the commercial world was not for me,” says Phyllis, whose work has appeared in The New York Times and The Atlantic.

“I wanted to get back behind the camera with real people and tell real stories. This journey was a long one and not as easy as you’d expect! I’m also passionate about social justice in America and I realised that I had to align myself and my work with that impulse.”

That night in the karaoke bar, an 18-year-old woman dressed like Justin Bieber approached the microphone. She called herself “$uperdike” and launched into a cover of Eminem, loaded with conviction, before taking a seat and whispering affectionately with her girlfriend.

It made so much of an impression that Phyllis felt compelled to follow the teen as she left, asking to drop by her house the next day because it felt like she had a story worth telling.

“That did not come naturally to me,” says Phyllis. “I had to work on this skill. I am a very private and respectful person.

“At some point, however, I realised that this action – of interrupting someone’s path and asking them to share with you – is part of the solution, not the problem… What we need more of these days is human connection.”

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