Where We Find Ourselves

"... Approximately 100 images, some single and some multiple portraits, edited from the almost 800 large-format glass-plate negatives and thousands of individual portraits made by Durham-born and self-taught photographer Hugh Mangum and currently housed at Duke University's Rubenstein Special Collections library"--

Self-taught photographer Hugh Mangum was born in 1877 in Durham, North Carolina, as its burgeoning tobacco economy put the frontier-like boomtown on the map. As an itinerant portraitist working primarily in North Carolina and Virginia during the rise of Jim Crow, Mangum welcomed into his temporary studios a clientele that was both racially and economically diverse. After his death in 1922, his glass plate negatives remained stored in his darkroom, a tobacco barn, for fifty years. Slated for demolition in the 1970s, the barn was saved at the last moment--and with it, this surprising and unparalleled document of life at the turn of the twentieth century, a turbulent time in the history of the American South. Hugh Mangum's multiple-image, glass plate negatives reveal the open-door policy of his studio to show us lives marked both by notable affluence and hard work, all imbued with a strong sense of individuality, self-creation, and often joy. Seen and experienced in the present, the portraits hint at unexpected relationships and histories and also confirm how historical photographs have the power to subvert familiar narratives. Mangum's photographs are not only images; they are objects that have survived a history of their own and exist within the larger political and cultural history of the American South, demonstrating the unpredictable alchemy that often characterizes the best art--its ability over time to evolve with and absorb life and meaning beyond the intentions or expectations of the artist.

Does the world we inhabit offer us hospitality or indifference? This question is central to the spiritual literature of all cultures. In We Find Ourselves Put to the Test James Crooks returns to the Bible’s book of Job to explore the enduring relevance of that question and its philosophical dimensions. Beginning with the puzzle of Job’s famous stoicism and nihilism in the face of loss, Crooks explores the contradictions of suffering as dramatized in the dialogue between Job and his friends. How is it that the friends’ attempt to comfort Job with a rational explanation of his misfortune devolves seamlessly into victim blaming? How is it that Job’s own renunciation of life at the nadir of his pain converts into an intellectual patience that outlasts the advocates of rational explanation? We Find Ourselves Put to the Test gives a portrait of the suffering protagonist looking into the heart of a creation that is, by necessity, both indifferent and hospitable. A philosophical exploration of one of the most enigmatic books in the Bible, We Find Ourselves Put to the Test goes beyond critical interpretation and suggests a way of reading the book of Job that is animated by a consideration of the reader’s narratives and communities, and the limits of his or her own understanding.

Stories and poems from over 30 UK based writers of the Global Majority, from African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Carribean, South American, Chinese and Malay communities write about maps and mapping. Stories and poems of finding oneself and getting lost, colonialism and diaspora, childhood exploration and adult homecoming. Stories and Poems by: Alexander Williams, Alireza Abiz, Amanda Addison, Ambrose Musiyiwa, Anita Goveas, Be Manzini, Benson Egwuonwu, Catherine Okoronkwo, Crystal Koo, Dean Atta, Des Mannay, Désirée Reynolds, Dipika Mummery, Emily Abdeni-Holman, Farhana Khalique, Gita Ralleigh, Kavita A Jindal, L Kiew, Lesley Kerr, Lorraine Dixon, Lorraine Mighty, Malka Al-Haddad, Mallika Khan, Marina Sànchez, Marka Rifat, Meng Qiu, Mimi Yusuf, Nasim Rebecca Asl, Ngoma Bishop, Nikita Aashi Chadha, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, P.A.Bitez, Rachael Li Ming Chong, Rhiya Pau, Rick Dove, Sami Ibrahim, Sandra Nimako-Boatey, Yvie Holder, Z.R. Ghani

Clambering down slippery rocks to a swimming hole. Ducking the plume of smoke from a barbecue grill. Wishing for a breeze in a too-small dome tent. Scanning the sky for rain from a postage-stamp backyard. It is in these small moments of action—and inaction—that Justin Kimball captures our everyday attempts to relax. Indeed, one might argue that the events depicted are everyday life. Kimball’s compelling photographs depict ordinary people—parents and teens, grandparents and kids—in landscapes of leisure. These are not the exclusive resorts and white sand beaches of the affluent; rather, they are the parks, campgrounds, and fishing piers where most Americans vacation. They are natural landscapes—inviting, green, and sometimes beautiful—but at the same time they are imperfect—muddy, crowded, and partially paved. There is nothing idyllic about these vacation spots; indeed, Kimball’s photographs make clear that daily life can never be fully left behind. The people in his pictures, though momentarily transformed by cascading water or the shade of towering trees, remain enmeshed in ties of family and obligation, shadowed by thoughts of home. It is Kimball’s particular genius to isolate these moments between duty and pleasure. Where We Find Ourselves enables viewers to identify with—and participate in—this bittersweet aspect of American leisure and the ambiguous contemporary relationship between people and nature.

Explores the universal longing for home, illuminated through the essays, poetry, and fiction of forty Jewish women writers from around the world.

The author describes his work as a psychoanalyst over a twenty-five year period, describing his efforts to guide his patients to personal insights into their behaviors and resolutions which can change their lives for the better.

Book Two in The New Kind of Christian Trilogy The Story We Find Ourselves In is the sequel to Brian D. McLaren's award-winning book A New Kind of Christian. His witty and wise characters take on difficult, faith-busting themes--from evolution and evangelism to death and the meaning of life--and reveal that the answers to life's pressing spiritual questions often come from the most unlikely sources. Dan and Neo (and some new characters as well) invite reflection on the story we find ourselves in--that is, the narrative of God's presence and meaning in the world now and in the future.