Prof. Shiraz Ahmed tasked students this semester to explore realms within the campus and city, unnoticed by everyday passersby. Students were allowed to choose their subjects, but were motivated to find a deeper, revelatory meaning behind the pictures they were making. Some chose the domesticity of their homes or neighborhoods, others put themselves in new situations, bonding with people familiar and strange and telling stories that reveal that these places hold meaning far beyond what meets the eye. By using their eyes, cameras and composition, they told stories about grief, friendship, love, labor and history, sensitively and empathetically, looking to make the ordinary feel exceptional.
Learn more about their projects below.
Something Like Sisters by Emma Boyd
“My project highlights the closeness and tenderness of female friendships, especially those within Greek sorority life, and shines a light on how beautiful these relationships can be. The photos show my real friends just living their lives, unposed, unfiltered, and natural. Some also capture the presence of these friendships through the spaces we share. Living in my sorority house this year with over a hundred friends has been such a rewarding and formative experience. It’s brought a new level of closeness to the people I care about most, especially as our time in college together starts to come to an end.”
Emma Boyd is a photographer from Nashville, Tennessee, and an undergraduate at the University of Mississippi majoring in Southern Studies. She enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, discovering new restaurants and places, and exploring her interests in fashion and interior design.
Last summer, she spent July and August living and working in Charleston, South Carolina, where she worked for her favorite clothing label, Julia Amory, and interned for an artist and designer. During her time there, she helped manage the business behind the scenes and assisted with running social media. She plans to move back to Nashville after graduation and find a job in the realm of social media marketing, fashion marketing, or interior design.
Life on Garfield Ave (photography) by Grace Di Mento
Life on Garfield Ave is a documentary photo project that explores the everyday lives on Garfield Ave. This is a busy street tucked between South 16th and South 18th, and her project focuses on students ‘ shared spaces, from hanging out on front porches to band parties, to everyday students walking to and from class. I want my photos to feel natural and honest, not staged, but as if you are there too. My goal is to capture the rhythm of this street across different times of day, showing how energy shifts from calm mornings to lively evenings. It’s about the ordinary details that often go unnoticed but tell so much about a place and its people.
Grace Di Mento is a photographer from Collierville, Tennessee, and an undergraduate at theUniversity of Mississippi, majoring in Southern Studies and minoring in Marketing.
She is interested in documenting everyday life and the relationships that form in familiar spaces. In her past, she has not done a lot of photography work, so she has loved learning and capturing her work through Southern documentary photography.
Beyond the “Shot” by Shelby Friedrichs
Hunting is a sport that many have done for thousands of years. Some do it for the thrill of the hunt, while others do it to survive. With its slow, calming nature, hunting is a very precise sport that takes planning, timing and execution. The feeling when your heart is pounding, hands shaking, and adrenaline pumping is a feeling unlike any other. I wanted to show the serenity, but action packed preparation, hunt, and processing of what so many people love to do. Whether it is early in the morning setting up for the hunt or late at night tracking the animal you just shot, every part of it is as important as pulling the trigger.
Shelby Friedrichs is a photographer from Metairie, Louisiana and undergraduate at the University of Mississippi majoring in Southern Studies. He is passionate about hunting and fishing. He loves being outdoors and spending time with his friends. He is the Vice President of his Fraternity and has been involved in many things around campus.
A Living History by Carter Hendrick
This project is about documenting the history of Oxford while simultaneously showing how people still occupy the historical spaces today. Some spaces I chose to include are the Oxford courthouse, historical museums as well as William Faulkner’s home. These historical places are still occupied today by the community as well as visitors keeping the history alive today. The project consists of historians occupying these spaces as well as everyday people of the community.
Carter Hendrick is a photographer from Fort Mill, South Carolina, and an undergraduate student at the University of Mississippi majoring in Southern Studies. A passionate outdoor enthusiast and history buff, Carter finds inspiration in the landscapes, stories, and heritage of the American South.
His photography reflects his appreciation for the region’s natural beauty and cultural history, capturing moments that connect people to the land and its past. Dedicated to conservation, he actively supports efforts to preserve native lands, protect wildlife, and maintain historic sites. Through his work, Carter aims to tell meaningful stories that highlight the importance of protecting both our environment and the history that shapes it.
The People Behind the Place by Rebecca Johnson
As a student at the University of Mississippi, I interact with workers and staff members daily, whether it is walking to class or picking up a coffee before my next lecture. While these moments are brief, they hold so much more meaning that is often overlooked. Within this project, I hope the viewer can step away from the stereotypical aspects that make our university feel like Ole Miss and redefine our university’s identity by celebrating the people who make our campus feel like home. My goal is not only to acknowledge the presence of these people but to honor their humanity and the care that they offer us each and every day.
Rebecca Johnson is a photographer from Suwanee, Georgia, and an undergraduate at the University of Mississippi, majoring in Southern Studies and minoring in Legal Studies. She fell in love with photography while studying abroad in Florence, Italy, where she studied contemporary art and classical architecture. While in Italy, she discovered the works of artists whose creativity continues to influence her photography today, finding inspiration in every corner.
Johnson is passionate about all things film, art, and visual storytelling. Through her work, she aims to capture the simple intimacies that make these moments and spaces extraordinary.
Where Love Remains (photography) by Hope Kirabo
This project explores resilience and remembrance in the aftermath of suicide. It centers on a mother who lost her son and transformed her grief into purpose, offering hope to other families through her tragedy. Together with a team of families also impacted by suicide, she now leads the Out of the Darkness Oxford Walks, an initiative by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) initiative raising awareness and funds for suicide prevention.
By documenting moments of light within sorrow, this project seeks to invite empathy, challenge stigma, and affirm that pain and hope can coexist in healing. I also hope it sparks open conversation about suicidality, since nearly one in two people have struggled at some point, and helps normalize these experiences while encouraging awareness, support, and prevention.
Hope Kirabo is a Ugandan storyteller and Clinical Psychology graduate student at the University of Mississippi. She discovered photography as a writer who saw images when crafting words and found that taking photos helped her write more vividly. This intersection of language and imagery became her way of communicating complex human experiences.
Her work focuses on portraying resilience and meaning in life, especially in contexts that challenge those ideas, such as childhood trauma and suicidality. Hope aims to raise awareness about mental health, highlight unseen experiences, and project hope, even in moments that feel misaligned or painful. She is also interested in using Photovoice as a research method in her graduate studies and future career.
Sober on the Square: with Kristy Bridges by Mary-Helen LeMay
My documentary project focuses on Kristy Bridgers, a woman on a mission to change the way Oxford, MS views sobriety. In a town known for its bar scene and nightlife, Kristy has become a voice for those choosing a different path. Through her social media series, Sober on the Square, she highlights alcohol-free options at Oxford’s most popular restaurants and encourages open conversations about living sober in a culture centered around drinking.
This project will explore Kristy’s personal journey, her passion for advocacy, and the impact of her message on the community. By documenting her story, I hope to show how one person’s courage can challenge traditions and inspire a more inclusive version of Southern social life.
Mary Helen-LeMay is a photographer from Florence, Alabama, and an undergraduate at the University of Mississippi majoring in Southern Studies with a minor in Marketing. She is passionate about exploring the intersection of Southern identity, fashion, and culture through visual storytelling.
In her past, she has combined her love for fashion merchandising and social media to create and promote styled photoshoots, often using photography as a way to express individuality and highlight Southern style. Mary Helen enjoys capturing the connection between fashion and place, blending her creative interests with her academic focus on the modern South.
Hand of Clay, Heart of Fire: The Art of Eliza Meow by Gracie Miester
My project is a documentary portrait of Eliza Meow, an Oxford based potter and drag performer. I focus on her life in the ceramics studio, photographing the rhythm and intimacy of her carving, wheel throwing, shaping, and refining clay. The work highlights the dedication of her process, the movement of her hands, the textures of raw clay, and the quiet concentration of making her gorgeous work.
Through close up details and environmental images, I focus on how her artistic practice reflects both discipline and play. The narrative centers on transformation, how clay is guided into form, and how creative space becomes a site of self expression. Ultimately, the project offers an intimate look at how Eliza shapes her world through her work.
Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Gracie Miester is currently getting her BA in Southern Studies with a minor in art at the University of Mississippi. Miester is passionate about pottery which is why she chose a good friend of hers, Eliza Meow to be the subject for this project.
In the past Miester, has taken Andy Harper’s S St 540 class and Shiraz Ahmed S St 534 class. Miester enjoys photographing friends and coworkers who are very passionate about what they do. While also juggling school Gracie is a server at the Michelin Guide recommended restaurant City Grocery, she has been working there for over three years now. Miester intends on graduating in the Spring of 2026.
Behind the Plate: The Life Inside Big Bad Breakfast by Arianna Patterson
This project focuses on the people and moments that make Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford come to life. Through portraits and candid shots, Behind the Plate captures the rhythm of the restaurant from the early morning prep to the rush of busy brunch hours and the dreaded closing work. The images highlight chefs, line cooks, waitresses, and hostesses, showing the teamwork and energy that keep the restaurant running smoothly.
Rather than focusing on the food itself, this project tells the story of the people behind it the ones who make every meal possible. By spending time in the kitchen and front of house, the project gives a real and personal look at the hard work, laughter, and sense of family that make Big Bad Breakfast such a special part of Oxford’s community.
Arianna Patterson is a photographer from Georgia and an undergraduate at the University of Mississippi majoring in Southern Studies with a minor in Criminal Justice. She is passionate about getting to know new people and learning more about the Oxford community.
Patterson works for the City Grocery Restaurant Group as a waitress, which inspired her to create this project focusing on the people behind Big Bad Breakfast. Through her photography, she aims to highlight the teamwork, dedication, and everyday moments that bring Oxford’s restaurant culture to life. Outside of photography, Arianna enjoys spending time with her friends and family, reading, working out, and exploring new places around Oxford. She loves the sense of community the town offers and how the local restaurants bring people together.
Church of the Living God by Deja Samuel
Church of the Living God is a photographic exploration of queer Christianity through the work and world of Mississippi artist Jonathan Kent Adams. By spending time in his home and studio, I set out to document both his creative process and the Christian symbolism that threads through his art. The project challenges the idea that queerness and devout faith exist in opposition; instead, it reveals how the sacred is present in every corner of a life fully lived.
Jonathan’s relationship with God, intimate, honest and deeply rooted, is one of the closest mirrors to my own spiritual experience. Through quiet portraits, details of his studio, and images where the mundane becomes holy, I aim to show viewers that God is everywhere, and that being gay and being Christian are not contradictions, but harmonies.
Deja Samuel is a photographer and first-year southern Studies graduate student from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Her work sits at the intersection of documentary practice, everyday ritual, and the search for the sacred within the mundane. Before entering graduate school, she developed a body of work that grew far beyond the classroom, photographing weddings, family histories, and intimate moments that often unfold in the quiet spaces between major milestones.
Samuel is interested in visual narratives that marry the sacred and the mundane, exploring how faith, identity, and community shape the Southern experience. Her current research and creative work examine spiritual life within queer communities, using photography as a way to honor presence, truth, and the complexity of belonging. Looking ahead, she hopes to expand her documentary practice across regions and cultures, contributing to global storytelling platforms while remaining rooted in the people and places that first shaped her vision.
To Wes and Ellis: A Photographer’s Love Letter to Her Subjects by Sela Ricketts
This project features two MFA sculpture graduate students, Wes Rankin and Ellis Barber. Over the course of this semester they graciously allowed me to document a small part of their artistic journey. It started off as an exploration of the contemporary metal arts movement. However, both Wes and Ellis were my friends before this project, so they’ve never been just “metal artists” to me. It was inevitable that the project would shift to documenting two people I care deeply about.
These photographs explore themes of personal relationships, connection and memory. Each image is a moment from my own life and I am now sharing those memories with the viewer.
The beauty of photography is that it allows the audience to pause and contemplate what might be happening when the shutter clicked. That contemplation allows for the viewer’s own interpretations of my memories, which invites contemplation of the complexities of the subject’s lives. Although I already knew Wes and Ellis, this project allowed me to take a step back and
challenge what I thought I knew about them and allow myself to reconnect to my loved ones on a deeper level.
Originally from the Mississippi Delta, Sela Ricketts is an MFA candidate with the Southern Documentary Project at the University of Mississippi where her primary focus is photography and the paranormal South. Her MFA thesis centers around the French Quarter in New Orleans where she studies how the city presents itself as a haunted tourist destination.
Stall Sweethearts by Cody Stickels
This documentary photography project offers a glimpse behind the scenes of David and
Savannah Misenhelter, a young couple who run a horse barn together. It’s a bit of a love story: they met at a horse competition and recently married on the property where they’ve built their life together. Stall Sweethearts shows both the hard work of feeding, grooming, and training horses, and the quiet moments of connection in their days. Running a horse barn takes hands-on effort and discipline—but it’s this shared dedication that keeps the animals, the business, and their bond strong.
Cody Stickels is a filmmaker who crafts heartfelt, character-driven stories that celebrate comfort, humor, and resilience. He is a 2025-2026 Chicken & Egg (Egg)celerator Lab cohort member and was selected for the 2024 Film Independent Documentary Story Lab. Cody’s last film won the audience award for Best Documentary at New York City’s NewFest Film Festival and screened internationally at BFI Flare, Inside Out, and Woodstock. He graduated from New York University with a BFA in Film & TV and an MA from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, earning an Award for Outstanding Interdisciplinary Work.