S elf-taught photographer Eddie Davis' portfolio depicts unrest over police/black citizen relations, anti-war sentiment over U.S. military policy in Iraq, and student expressions over current school desegregation policies pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The photographer shares some of his cherished photos with Renee and talks about how his images offer commentary on the state of race relations in Louisville on the next edition of Connections with Renee Shaw , airing Saturday, April 7 at 3/2 p.m. CT on KET1.
The son of parents who were also avid shutterbugs, Davis is a car salesman by vocation yet seldom misses a march, protest or demonstration in Louisville. Over the years , he's taken pictures of police shootings, protests and other forms of public social expression. Though credentialed, he's even been mistaken for one of his subjects and arrested and jailed. He lists among his influences Gordon Parks, the groundbreaking African American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director, and Jay Thomas, the first African American photographer employed by the Courier-Journal.
In this program, Renee talks with Davis about his career, which also included photographing Mayor Jerry Abramson's first mayoral campaign -- and running for local office himself. His work was recently the subject of an exhibition at the Braden Center, a Louisville anti-racism organization, and is archived at the Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville.
Connections with Renee Shaw is a KET production, produced by Renee Shaw and Carolyn Gwinn.
