Truman Grayson

I photograph architectural structures that have history within the black community but have been abandoned. I have photographed the A.G. Gaston Motel, the Lyric Theatre, and the Powell School. The A.G. Gaston Motel was built to provide “higher class” service to blacks during segregation. In 1963, Martin Luther King stayed at the motel when he visited Birmingham during the city’s Civil Rights Movement. My uncle Otis told me of his fond memories of his senior prom that was held at the Gaston Motel. The Lyric Theatre was the first theatre to allow blacks and whites to view movies and live acts at the same time. The Negro entrance was located on the third floor, and the Negroes had to leave by way of the fire escape. Powell School was the first “free” public school within the city. I went to Powell School from the second to the fourth grade. In 2011, the school was burned. This image is an example of the aftermath of that fire. These buildings were/are going through a transition and have been abandoned by the black and white community. My interest in this subject came about with the death of my mother; I see this interaction between community and abandoned structures as a metaphor for our relationship.