A Family Lens on the American South

By Monica Jones

Get ready for a truly special visual treat which weaves together family, art, and the enduring spirit of the American South. 

“In Threes: Photographs by Maude Schuyler Clay, Langdon Clay, and Sophia Clay” is an intimate look at the intertwined visions of a celebrated Southern couple—Maude and Langdon Clay—and their youngest daughter, Sophia

Anchored in the quiet Mississippi Delta town of Sumner, the Clay family’s collective work spans decades. Their photographs reveal a deeply personal bond, tracing a visual conversation across generations. For those of us who appreciate a good story, this one is told through stunning images, an intimate vignette of this remarkable family.

A Shared Vision, Generations Apart

The exhibition’s clever curation centers, as its title suggests, on groupings of three. Images are linked in sets, gently blurring stylistic boundaries and exposing fascinating patterns of repetition and divergence. You’ll find works that sometimes capture the same subject, often portray each other, and always trace a dialogue which feels both fresh and deeply rooted. Many of these pieces are being exhibited for the first time, offering a truly fresh view into the Clays’ artistic legacy, where the threads of time, family, and place beautifully converge.

Let’s dive into the family behind the lenses.

Maude Schuyler Clay was born and raised in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, a place she continues to call home and where much of her evocative work is created. Her journey in photography is legendary. After cutting her teeth assisting her cousin, the iconic photographer William Eggleston, she ventured to New York City, working at the prestigious Light Gallery before becoming a photo editor for household names like Vanity Fair, Esquire, and Fortune. Returning to the Delta in 1987, she later served as photography editor for Oxford American magazine. Her images are held in major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. If you’ve ever flipped through her books like Delta Land, Delta Dogs, or Mississippi History, you know the profound way she captures the soul of the South. Keep an eye out for her upcoming book, This Beautiful World, in 2025.

Then there’s Langdon Clay, born in New York City in 1949 but shaped by his time in New Jersey, Vermont, and Boston before moving back to the city in 1971. For 16 years, he traveled tirelessly across the United States and Europe shooting for various magazines and books. But destiny, or perhaps love, brought him to Mississippi in 1987, where he settled down, built a life, and raised three children with Maude. His work graces the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. His acclaimed book, Cars, New York City, 1974–1976, published in 2016, offers a gritty, nostalgic glimpse into a bygone era. And get ready for more from him, with the books Tuesday’s Just As Bad and 42nd Street 1979, 2011, 2023 on the horizon.

Bringing a contemporary twist to this rich lineage is their youngest daughter, Sophia Clay, born in 1994. Hailing from the Mississippi Delta but now calling New Orleans home, Sophia’s work is captivating. She centers her lens on the temporality of man-made structures within the natural world, often exploring how nature reclaims its space. There’s a particular beauty she unearths in the ordinary and the mundane, making us look at everyday objects with fresh eyes. Her distinct voice has already been showcased in exhibitions at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis and the New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery.

Experience the Exhibition and a Special Salon

“In Threes: Photographs by Maude Schuyler Clay, Langdon Clay, and Sophia Clay” will be on view from August 28th through November 1st. This is a perfect window to immerse yourself in decades of interconnected artistry.

To deepen your experience, be sure to join The Do Good Fund for a special Do Good Salon on Thursday, October 9th, at 6 p.m. This unique evening will feature the Clay Family themselves, offering a chance to hear directly from the artists about their work, their inspirations, and their shared photographic journey. They’ll be joined by curator-photographer Ashley Gates.

Speaking of Ashley Gates, in conjunction with “In Threes,” The Do Good Fund is also pleased to exhibit her series “House Sitting” in the Upstairs Gallery. Ashley, a talented photographer and editor from Jackson, Mississippi, brings her own evocative photographs of the American South to the forefront. Her work has been exhibited nationally and she recently received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Mississippi Arts Commission.

The Do Good Fund: Bringing Southern Stories to Columbus

This incredible exhibition is brought to us by The Do Good Fund, Inc., a Columbus, Georgia-based public charity founded in 2012. Their mission is truly commendable: to build a museum-quality collection of photographs taken in the American South since World War II, and to make that collection broadly accessible. With more than 800 images, including works from more than 25 Guggenheim Fellows, they aim to share the rich visual history of our region. They actively encourage complementary, community-based programming, ensuring that these powerful visual stories reach as many people as possible.

All Do Good events and exhibitions, including “In Threes” and the Do Good Salon, are free and open to the public. You can experience “In Threes” during gallery hours: Wednesday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Do Good Fund is located at 111 12th Street. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with a profound family narrative and some truly exceptional Southern photography.