Dave Anderson East Lansing, Michigan, b. 1970

Dave Anderson’s photographs from his Rough Beauty series were taken in Vidor, Texas, a town known for extreme poverty and racism as it was formerly the site of Ku Klux Klan activities. The reputation of the town and its isolation is in part what brought Anderson to Vidor, along with his insatiable desire to travel across the country on the road. While these photographs were taken almost 20 years ago, they resonate with contemporary issues of race, isolation, and poverty. The people of Vidor are adamant that the labels placed on them are not true to their actual character and that they are a kind, close-knit community. In June 2020, a Black Lives Matter group successfully staged a peaceful protest in the town. The large hand-painted signs for “shrimp” in Call Dot for Shrimp almost immediately recall Walker Evans’ photographs of roadside sandwich shops and his interest in the vernacular art of hand-painted signs. The phone number for Dot and several other signs that say “fresh shrimp” are placed on a tree and covering the small trailer of shrimp. The American flag partially obscures the signs in the foreground, blowing gently in the wind.