Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
John David “Jack” Leigh II spent his artistic career recording the unique personalities and lifestyles of the American South. Capturing moments of leisure enjoyed by African Americans in the natural landscape of the American South, Leigh presents a vision of the black experience typically overlooked by white documentarians and often overshadowed by the history of violence and oppression toward people of color in this region, the ramifications of which continue to plague the nation as a whole.
In Fishing After Church, Leigh’s portrait documents a seated African American woman in her formal, light-colored Church outfit, holding her fishing rod on the bank of a murky Southern creek. Taken under a substantial tree canopy, the brightest whites found in the image are found on the pristine dress clothes worn by the woman fishing, underscoring the juxtaposition between the muddy, outdoor activity on display and the dignity, grace, and confidence of the person engaged in it.