Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Survival In Mount Zion


Greater Mt. Zion AME Church, Pearlington, Ms. Two skiffs rest on it's front steps. They were used to rescue several elderly parishioners from the floodwaters.


Mr. Marshall Collins sits in the wreckage of what was once the church. You can see the hole they hacked in the ceiling to escape the rising waters, pews and snakes and the occasional alligator swimming in the water below as they waited for help to arrive. The walls are buckled, and the waterline mark is visible near the top of the stained-glass windows. The floor is coated in inches of oozing swamp muck.


You could breathe the wet heat.

14 comments:

Sumeeta said...

This site is absolutely amazing. Your photos show us images that we will never see in the traditional media, but we need to see them. I'm definitely bookmarking this site.

Anonymous said...

Kickass site, and some of the most arresting photos I have seen in a million years. YOu renew my faith in the lens.

porchwise said...

Absolutely one of the best summaries of hurricane survival I've ever read and seen through the lens of a master photographer. Been through a lot of hurricanes and it seems like the small towns are always forgotten. Great, great blog, wish you could publish it in a book.

Jo Anna Guerra said...

Clayton, you're a truly gifted artist. Thank you for sharing this phenomenal experience with us.

Anonymous said...

Amazing talent! And using your talent for such a great cause, as well.
I tip my hat to you, friend.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

FANTASTIC PORTRAITS. absolutely stunning, they move to the core.

i live in galveston, texas, 20 yards from the beach. we offer our prayers to those who did not escape as we so luckily did. i didn't use to believe in god, but now i'm not sure.

keep documenting.

Anonymous said...

I'm curious, what kind of camera are you shooting with?

Anonymous said...

i am absolutely in love with this site...

id love to go there and help... but im a mom of 2 .. all i have is a truck... i have no idea what to do to help...

thanks for the harsh reality... as much as it hurts its honest!

Anonymous said...

clayton, these are some of the most powerful, insightful and heartrending photographs and words i have ever seen. you really are shining light on things we all need to see, especially in order to believe in the power of our brothers and sisters.

i myself saw many of the same images during the tsunami (i was in sri lanka at the time). soon after (well, it really feels that way), bombay got flooded and many many people died. and the people rose to the occassion. people fighting over religion, caste and creed the day before saw god in each other's eyes. they felt god in the hand that pulled them out of the abyss.

while the government stood by. barely daring to watch.

i wish you and others like you all the very best. i will comb through the site further to figure out how to buy some of your pics.

god bless.

priya.

Jenifer D. said...

It's a nice change to see another person's view of this tragedy rather than some media-hyena being blown off-balance in 100+ MPH winds.

On a wing and a prayer said...

Hey,this is Julian here and I`m a chinese from malaysia training to be a pilot.U have some really great blogs here whicih gave me very good insights bout Katrina`s damage but from a different perspective...
Your pictures are really powerful
thumbs up and way to go..
Hope u have time to drop by my humble site & give comments..

Jennie said...

First of all, thanks for this site. The photos speak a telling story.

Second, this church building seems to be a fairly solid old structure and hopefully hasn't lost it's structural integrity. The congregation should look to find some help to restore this beautiful building. Check with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Thirdly, and comically, maybe God just didn't like the paneling on the walls (the walls themselves do not look like they buckled as much as the paneling just doesn't do well waterlogged). I'm not too thrilled about that type of paneling on such a beautiful old structure, as it tends to hide the true beauty of the building's architectural style.

Anonymous said...

muy buenas tus fotos
desde chile mis saludos
rodrigo albornoz

Anonymous said...

Hi, interesting theme.