Hopes, Dreams & Realities

U n i t a r i a n

U n i v e r s a l i s t

F e l l o w s h i p

p r e s e n t s

“Hopes, Dreams & Realities” Photographic Exhibit April 1 - April 3oth, 2016

BY

LISETTE

OTERO-LEWIS

G a l l e r y

WORK

My hope as you view these images that you see beyond the face of the person, beyond the age, beyond the color, beyond the clothes and actually connect with the essence of who they are, people with dreams, hopes, and realities.

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small town in Central Mississippi about 30 min North of the Capitol. It is a rural town consisting of a shell of a courthouse in the middle of the town square. You may not know the

Canton consists of the those who have means, usually the small business owners, living in their renovated Victorian homes or inherited farms passed on from generation to generation or those who are poor, too poor to move and/or too poor to progress but still dream of a better life, some make it out, some don’t, some stay to advocate change. Unfortunately, these contrasts are supported also by the invisible color divide. I was the only hispanic American business owner on the square, which gave me the opportunity to cross this divide with ease.

name of Canton, MS but you have seen it many times if you watched the movie “A Dog Named Skip”, “To Kill a Mocking Bird, or “Mississippi Burning”. It is a perfect backdrop for any movie wanting to project the nostalgia of the South. There are two sides to Canton, as it is with any small southern town.

DREAMS

A little bit about Canton, it is a

work was taken in Canton, MS, between 20122013. During this time in Canton, I had the privilege of taking portraits of the people, children, families and local celebrities that lived there.

Even though the intention was not to exhibit this body as a whole, it became evident as I processed each image, the personalities of these individual told a story. The story of what it meant to grow up in the south, to be white or black in a small town.

This body of

THE

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ABOUT

HOPES, REALITIES

LISETTE

OTERO-LEWIS

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HOPES,

DREAMS

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REALITIES

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HOPES,

DREAMS

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REALITIES

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EASTER BEST Time passes but in a small town like Canton, time stands still.

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LISETTE

OTERO-LEWIS

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M E TA P H Y S I C I S T A mind of her own, no Southern upbringing would change that.

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HOPES,

DREAMS

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REALITIES

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J’NIA’S SON When we look into his eyes we see a boy, what we do not see is how he will be treated as a man.

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N E X T G E N E R AT I O N When we look into her eyes we see a girl, what we know is that she will be favored.

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HOPES,

DREAMS

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REALITIES

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HONORED WELL A small town like Canton, doesn’t ever forget those who served their country.

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OTERO-LEWIS

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HOPE & LOVE All families, no matter what, have hopes and a fierce love for their children

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HOPES,

DREAMS

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REALITIES

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I N H E R I TA N C E In Canton, many of the younger folks inherit their family's land but many do not stay.

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OTERO-LEWIS

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G R E E N F O R M AYO R He grew up in Canton, seen it’s lack of progress.

He had hopes to make a difference.

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HOPES,

DREAMS

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REALITIES

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LISETTE

OTERO-LEWIS

JOY WITHIN She didn’t have much but what she had plenty of was an infectious joy.

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HOPES,

DREAMS

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REALITIES

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HOPES,

DREAMS

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LISETTE

ABOUT

THE

OTERO-LEWIS

PHOTOGRAPHER

“Photography has the ability to capture a moment in an instant, and this is what sets it apart from other forms of art.� -

Lisette

Lisette Otero-Lewis works with photography, digital art and the web. She currently lives in Punta Gorda, FL and has a resident studio located in the Artisan Atelier, located in Herald Court downtown.

She graduated with a Bachelor in Arts from Belhaven University and has owned and managed her own gallery in Jackson and Canton, Mississippi. She has won numerous awards for her photography and computer art and has sold locally and nationwide.

Lisette has a passion for photography as an art form, her current work is inspired by the colors of the harbor and gulf lifestyle.

She is a current member and volunteer of the Visual Arts Center of Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, Arts, Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County and the Arts and Humanities Council of Charlotte County.

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S p e c i a l T h a n k Yo u t o t h e Fo l l o w i n g :

UNITARIAN

UNIVERSALIST SUSAN SUE DAVID

SAMMIS TAYLOR

SUSSMAN

DR.

GEOFF

LEIGH ARTS

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PRINTING LEWIS

MURRAY

HUMANITIES TISH

SHAWN CHEF BIG

GALLERY COMMITTEE

SHEESLEY

HAIR

KEITH

GOURMET

COUNCIL

COMPANY OF

TRABUE

CHEESE

COMPANY

LISETTE LEWIS ART STUDIO INSIDE THE ARTISAN ATELIER 117 HERALD COURT CENTRE PUNTA GORDA, FL 33950 WWW.LISETTELEWIS.COM INFO@LISETTELEWIS.COM 941.444.6158

All images are copyrighted and use of them with out explicit permission is forbidden