Advertisements from Natchez, Mississippi of a popular malaria cure 1935

Ben’s photograph captures advertisements for a malaria cure in Natchez, Mississippi, and it's as much about the signs as the place they inhabit. I can imagine Ben, in his own kind of abstract way, thinking about the way the lettering and images were applied, noticing how the messages of commerce became part of the landscape. Maybe he was thinking about Walker Evans. Or the way the Bechers would later photograph industrial structures. Look at the way the signs jostle for space, shouting their message, and how the building leans, weary but still standing. They create an atmosphere of resilience but also of uncertainty and decay. I get the sense that Ben's less interested in the tonic than in the raw, weathered beauty of the everyday South. Artists, we're all just looking and borrowing, remixing what we see and feel. Ben’s photo isn't just a document; it's a statement, a fragment of a larger conversation about place, memory, and the stories we tell ourselves.