Bill was a friend...and as someone who has had the honour of breaking bread with him and listening to his enchanting yarns...I believe he is smiling from heaven and saying you done good talking about his work.

Thank you for this beautiful video. I was born and raised in Alabama, studied Art History in college, mainly "Outsider Art", and William Christenberry was glossed over but I always remembered his photos. At that time I was a musician and painter, most outsider artists were sculptors or painters and not photographers, and I wasn't really interested in photography, so I didn't go much further in his work. Anyway, I'm really glad to see Mr. Christenberry getting some love. A side note, I'm going to do a little road trip this summer through the south, which will take me right through Hale County, Alabama.

Very nice video. I live in the American South and recall that, in the past, I rarely saw his work outside of the South. It’s nice to see him discussed more broadly.

Thank you Tatiana, I've been a fan of Christenberry's for a long time so I really appreciate this. Living in a small southern agricultural town I often document local buildings as well as nearby towns and old farm buildings in between.

There is an indie film called "Smoke" from 1995 that has a sub story about the owner of the smoke shop setting up his camera every day outside of the smoke shop, and taking a photo. He sets up the shot on his tripod at the same time every day, at the same angle, for years. One of the other characters picks up one of many of the photo albums including these shots and starts flipping the pages quickly just scanning each one. The smoke shop owner tells him to slow down and look more closely. I think you'd really enjoy this movie. Check it out if you haven't already seen it.

I stumbled across William Christenberry several years ago while looking up southern photographers. It's great that people are getting to see all his wonderful works. I live in the south myself and have been photographing my small town for a little over 20 years now. Many of my favorite spots to visit have been torn down. I'm so thankful I had the chance to photograph those places. I hope people understand the importance of documenting their hometown as they grow up, and continue to document it throughout their lives. It will change, and much of it will disappear before you know it. That's a few of the things I've learned from William Christenberry. Thanks for the video, enjoyed it!

Just stumbled across. He's my favorite photographer/artist. Really cool to see this.

Hi Tatiana! Thank you for producing this video. As someone who is in love with the old and abandoned, I appreciate so much his work and images. I too love to photograph and document old Americana. Buildings and cars and trucks are most interesting to me. I hope all is well. Thank you. Have a great day!

Your videos are so well produced, so full of awesome info, so well complemented with info about the topic… this is my new favourite channel 👏👏👏

The way you segue from video essay to advert is always incredible.

Oh,Tatiana, thank you so much for doing Christenberry. About a year ago in your Eggleston video you mentioned him and I commented that I thought he was a link between Evans and Eggleston. You replied that you were thinking of doing Christenberry and so happy you did. Evans took black and white pictures of tools and seemingly mundane objects and Christenberry encouraged Wheaton to color and what was called "monumentalizing the everday" with pictures ketchup bottles, old cars, bare lights and shopping carts. Christenberry also took a lot of heat for some of his courageous beliefs. Thanks again for following through on this.

Met him at a local gallery in DC. His work is so much deeper than what you see on the surface. Could not have been a nicer man.

Great video on Christenberry, Tatiana! I feel a lot of people see him as the Robin to Eggleston's Batman, referring to photographers from the American South. I had the pleasure of meeting him in the late 90's at a talk he gave in Birmingham, Alabama Museum of Art. He was a nice, low key, humble man with a vast knowledge of art, as well as a great artist. He has become one of my influences and I am glad that videos like yours help him to not become forgotten.

They used to call the drug store clerk; that mixed the soda; a soda fountain jockey. A friend I had; when I was a kid liked the "Round The World" soda. That was a blend of all the flavors. There's a song by Tom Waits. He's says that he worked as "a salesman, and a stock clerk, and a soda fountain jock jerk, and a manic mechanic on cars".

Thanks for sharing. Christenberry is anything but forgotten. He is an inspiration to me.

Thanks for shining a spotlight on this photographer. I lived in Nashville for 10 years and, for better or worse, much of the American South still looks like his pictures.

This video provoked a lot of thought for me as my mother was from the South & though we lived in the North my mother would take me & my sister south for the summer. I loved the small towns & a very different feel from where I lived in the North. My sister & I would run through the planted fields, explore & go to town on Saturday nights. I wish now that I had taken pictures then but it really meant nothing to me then. I have traveled & lived in the South now for 26 years & I can see the change. Some good but the landscape is changing from what I loved & remember. I also take pictures of it now & this video is really inspiring to continue.Thanks again for a wonderful video/lesson.

As an Alabama native, these photos are like seeing my own memories on a page or, in this instance, a screen.

Well this is timely, I just picked up - Of Time and Place: By Walker Evans and William Christenberry, for Christmas, its an amazing book. I also picked up my first 4x5 camera, a Horseman 45FA field camera, and I can't believe how small and compact this thing is, I'm itching to try it out in the spring, and the 4x5 camera pick up is due in part to Evans and Christenberry.

Really enjoyed this. As a transplanted southerner, I have seen much of that rural south that Christenberry captured in his art and that he had a nostalgia for. I arrived in Miami in 1961 and lived there for 33 years. While living there, and after I moved to California, I have taken many road trips in Florida, Georgia, and the Gulf Coast states (I have family in rural Louisiana) and have fond memories of the humid heat, rural landscapes, and working class/farming homes and structures, the towns, the food. (Ay, dios mio, the food.) Interesting that he, so many years ago, was focused on the changes. I keep seeing the changes, both in the rural south and its urban areas, such as Miami and South Beach and Fort Lauderdale, and mourn the loss of what I knew, yet photographically I do not share Christenberry's aesthetic nostalgia; my camera is drawn to the present, to people, to the abstract. Interestingly enough, much of my focus is on contemporary architecture and how I appreciate it from an abstracted standpoint. That said, I love the photos you shared here and his story, his multifaceted artistic talent. Christenberry's beautiful photos stirred so many fond (and a bit sad) memories and feelings. Thank you.

Really glad to see and hear! You ought to mention, Christenberry very similar to Eggleston, but earlier? Sally Mann was very involved with the man, as in art! The thoughts on colour vs BW are silly! Caveman or woman painted in Colour! Egypt, Babylon, Rome and South America, Mayans, Aztec and Others all in colour. I love colour, but BW is easier retained in our memories. Proof we don't need all those fancy cameras.! Love the photos! Bravo.

Great as always! Thank you! Also: Thanks for all your videos in 2022! Please continue your fine work this year! And have a very good 2023!!

Another fascinating documentary about a 'forgotten' photographer! William Christenberry photographic work does remind me of William Eggeleson photography. It seems as though like Eugene Atget, William Christenberry was trying to capture a time and place that fading or coming to an end. Unlike digital photography, film or celluloid is more permanent than digital files. By the way, you have no idea how many Syquest disks, floppy disks, Zip disk and CWRS/DVDRWs I once had. Those disk drives are no longer being made! The money I could have saved!!

Heh, I’m stationed at Fort Rucker and have taken many many photos throughout Alabama of similar subject matter, only in black and white. I wish I had known about this photographer sooner! I’ve added some of the locations from his photos to my short list of places to go shoot at. The South is still beautiful in its own unique way

There are a lot of structures like this in rural North Carolina. It's a color photographer's goldmine, and I love shooting stuff like this. Good video, T.

I will hate myself everyday for how long it took me to realize photography. there are several subtle and noticeable things in my life that are not what they once were that i wish i had photographed. and yes photography is an art in of itself and also a magical aid for the art of painting! I am a color man. I only do B&W in photoshop if i messed the exposure up.

Thanks alot. This was exactly the episode that I needed to see. I'm traveling. Done alot of traveling. Thx alot your shows. They are always helpful. American architecture, and American socioty is quickly changing. The small, and more isolated small towns; are losing alot of thier populations; more than ever. Most of the.opportunities; are in the big cities; more than ever. Like High Tech jobs, and the businesses that support the peoples lives there. Realestate near the big city; is a better investment. The small towns are becoming more deteriated. Some places are now more tourist attractions, than anything. Like route 66 in New Mexico has become. That historic highway runs parallel to the high speed interstate. It's about 1/4 mile from it; and it It is very isolated though. Everyone that's traveling the interstate; needs to get somewhere fast. I haven't been to a drug store with a soda fountain; where the clerk makes the soda; in about 10 years. I've noticed these things, and have been trying to put my finger on what I want to say on this subject. Small Towns in America. So thanks this show; and your subject coverage; is exactly what I needed. I'm going to watch it again right now. Like you said buildings that are still being used are still part of the human experience, and at the least need to be documented. I'll do more of that imeadiatly. Thx again.

I would love to sit in the corner of a room with you, Ted Forbes, Alex Kilbee and Sean Tucker. I would not enter into the discussion, I would remain in my corner to just take in the wisdom during the discourse.

Love that documentary feeling. You are in fire :)

There's a lot to be said for just documenting and appreciating.

Love what you snap and you’ll love your snaps!

It's sad, When industies change; become out dated; or move somewhere else; the small towns; that are left behind; have tough time. A great movie; that was a screen play by; Tennessee Williams; is called; This Property Is Condemned. Starring Nataly Wood, and Robert Redford. Oh I love Nataly Wood.

Re: being genuine, Dylan Thomas once said that art is about telling the truth

Just something that i noticed as a viewer, my word is not bond and I hope u continue to do as u see fit :). The drop off in audio when u take short pauses is really jarring to me, especially knowing that there is an echo in the room while recording & talking. It becomes the only thing i can focus on and takes away from what youre talking about! (To me).

first!