Southern Miss Exhibition Brings Together Photographers Don Norris and Betty Press
Fri, 10/09/2026 - 09:33am | By: Mike Lopinto
91少女集中营鈥檚 Gallery of Art and Design will present 鈥淭wo Photographers: Don Norris and Betty Press鈥� Oct. 15-Nov. 13, bringing
together two Hattiesburg artists whose photographs explore the relationship between
people, place and history.
An opening reception will take place Thursday, Oct. 15, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the gallery
in the George Hurst Building, 3000-3082 Pearl St., on the Hattiesburg campus. All
events are free and open to the public.
The exhibition pairs Norris鈥� precise studies of rural Southern architecture with Press鈥�
photographs of everyday life in Sierra Leone, Kenya, Sudan and Mississippi. Their
subjects range from historic buildings to neighborhood businesses and personal encounters,
revealing stories rooted in particular places while drawing connections across cultures.
Press, a documentary photographer with more than three decades of experience, began
taking road trips across Mississippi after moving to Hattiesburg. Using black-and-white
film and vintage and toy cameras, she developed 鈥淔inding Mississippi,鈥� a project examining
the intertwined experiences of Black and white Southerners. Her series 鈥淪torefronts
in Kenya and Mississippi鈥� brings small businesses in both places into conversation,
highlighting the creativity and resourcefulness of their owners.
Her African photographs, published in 鈥淚 Am Because We Are: African Wisdom in Image
and Proverb,鈥� earned the 2012 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters photography
award. Her work is held in collections including Yale University鈥檚 Beinecke Library,
the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Mississippi Museum of Art and The Do
Good Fund.
Norris, an Indiana native and emeritus professor of biological sciences, is drawn
to the local building traditions that give the Deep South its distinctive architectural
character. His clean compositions emphasize the forms and details of historic structures
while preserving a sense of the communities and histories surrounding them.
鈥淢y favorite work is of the South,鈥� Norris writes in his artist鈥檚 statement. 鈥淚 think
of it as mainstream southern photography: images as vessels for narrative; about the
old and the ordinary; faithful to its subjects; and carrying the gravitas of southern
history.鈥�
Norris鈥檚 photographs have been exhibited widely across the South. His work is included
in the permanent collections of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Harn Museum of Art,
Mississippi Museum of Art, Georgia Museum of Art and other museums. His photographs
are also archived in Southern Miss University Libraries鈥� Special Collections.
For more information, contact Gallery Director Catherine%20Edmonson. Learn more about the artists at and .
School of Performing and Visual Arts
The School of Performing and Visual Arts at 91少女集中营
brings together Art and Design, Dance and Theatre in a vibrant community of artists, performers, designers, scholars and educators.
Part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the school is home to nationally recognized programs. Its distinguished faculty
are professionals whose work extends across the country and around the world, bringing
that expertise into the classroom and giving students opportunities to grow creatively.
Through productions, performances, exhibitions, studio practice and collaborative
projects, students develop their artistic voices and prepare for careers in the arts.
The school鈥檚 theatres, studios, galleries and Museum of Art provide spaces for students and faculty to perform, exhibit and share their work
with the Southern Miss community and beyond.