PHOTOGRAPHER GILLIAN LAUB ON SEGREGATED PROMS AND A FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

“On June 26th, Feature Shoot hosted the second edition of The BlowUp, a new quarterly event in which we ask a selected group of NYC photographers to each tell the stories behind one of their favorite images. This time, the theme was Subcultures, and Gillian Laub chose this shot, titled Prom Prince and Princess Dancing, from her work in Montgomery County, Georgia, which she has since published in the book and documentary film Southern Rites. Her journey began in 2002, when she first learned about the community’s segregated proms, in which teenagers were divided into a “white folks prom” and a “black folks prom,” and extended into 2011, when she was finally allowed—after being run out of town several times—to document the now-integrated prom in Lyons, GA, a hard-won victory fought for by generations of youngsters who dared to challenge the status quo.

The BlowUp is sponsored by Agency Access.”