A young boy wearing a jersey and a hat poses in front of a grass field.

Photography

In Beebe, Donavon Smallwood Reflects on Ancestry and Land

02.04.2024

photographs and Words by Donavon Smallwood

Tender portraits of family, friends, and land offer an intimate glimpse into the photographer’s roots in smalltown Washington.

Beebe is an ongoing project on the paternal side of my family; one that explores our roots in smalltown Washington, North Carolina.

My earliest known ancestor was a member of a church named Beebe Chapel, which still has its foundation and burial grounds behind my grandmother’s home. With that reality in mind, I go out to photograph family members, friends—the land and the water that fractures it.

A spider hangs upside down in the middle of a web.

An older man wearing a hat poses in front of a house with this stands clasped in front of him.

A porcelain angel doll stands still in dark lighting.

The light shines brightly above a lake surrounded by forest.

A grassy clearing is illuminated in a forest surrounded by lush trees.

A lake is visible through a forest clearing.

A dark path through leaves and dirt reveals an open field in the distance.

A young girl sits on the edge of a trampoline in a grass field.

An unbloomed flower stands tall in a field of weeds.

A wooden cabin rests in dark lighting.

A young person wearing a hat and their hands in their pockets poses in front of a grass field.

A group of children play on a water slide and inflatable pool outside of a window.

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