The Spirit & the Flesh

• Author(s): Debbie Fleming Caffery,
• Publisher: Radius Books
• Pages: 95
• ISBN_10: 1934435147
  ISBN_13: 9781934435144
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Art / American / General , Photography / Individual Photographers / General , Photography / Photoessays & Documentaries , Photography / Subjects & Themes / Portraits & Selfies , Photography / Subjects & Themes / Regional , Social Science / Customs & Traditions , Travel / United States / South / West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) ,

Description:... Beginning in the mid-1990s, Louisiana-born photographer Debbie Fleming Caffery lived and worked on the grounds of the Catholic church in a small village in northeastern Mexico using a tortilla shack as her studio. In addition to the religious life of the town, she turned her lens on the nearby cantina that occasionally served as a brothel. The Spirit and the Flesh explores the themes of grace, redemption, sin and forgiveness that Caffery encountered in this community--of which she has said, "I felt incredibly comfortable in a culture rich in celebrations of religious feasts, with strong, independent, highly emotional people, much like the people I grew up with in southwest Louisiana. The brothel brought new elements into my work: secrets, sensual needs, desire and, often, unexpected love."
Debbie Fleming Caffery has been making photographs of the people and culture of her native Louisiana for more than 30 years; this is her fourth book.