F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote “There are no second acts in American lives.”
Too bad Fitzgerald never met Major Morris.
Like Grandma Moses, Morris got a late start to his art career, becoming a photographer in earnest after a career at MIT. He had a preternatural ability to capture everyday life in poverty-stricken neighborhoods with grace and a touch of elegance.
“What I see is the need for the dreams to be nurtured!” he said. “That is what my photography is all about!”
“Gettin’ Along,” a brilliant exhibit of Morris’s black & white photography at the SC art gallery, is a walk-in picture book of dreams.
Morris was born in the West End of Cincinnati, where he weathered poverty in the teeth of the Great Depression. His maternal grandmother instilled in him a relentless work ethic. She wanted him to write, go to school and stand on his own two feet, he recalled. As a child he did not understand the need to do chores or finish what was on his plate. His grandmother’s death made him realize the importance of her lessons. With little guidance in his life, Morris dropped out of high school to take odd jobs to keep his family afloat. He was drafted into the segregated U.S. Army, but honorably discharged due to a full quota of black soldiers. His brief stint in the military was helpful, though challenging, and taught him discipline. He settled in Boston in a life-changing job at MIT when his photography really launched.
When Morris retired in Southern California, he continued to take photographs to the very end of his life in June of 2016.
His wife, Anne-Grethe Morris, contacted SC about an exhibition. Art professor Marisol Rendón said she sees the incredible value in his photography.
Quotes from Morris were written on the walls, his most famous talked about what he liked to photograph most.
“In my photographic experience I have always been drawn to capturing images of what life was for me as I groped my way through an underprivileged youthful existence,” he said.
His most notable photograph, “Gettin’ Along,” was taken outside of a building he worked at in Boston. It features an African- American boy peddling a bicycle with a blond white boy riding on the back. An American flag attached to the interiors of the front wheel flutters freely. A rusted barrier separates them from a body of water with a slightly-faded city skyline behind them.
Morris’ said it was a perfect moment. He took his photographs without any external help, just him and the camera.
“Many people would ask, did you crop it?” he recalled. “I didn’t crop it. I saw and that’s what happened.”
“Collaboration” shows two kids working together on what appears to be a school project. A small white boy wearing a checkered shirt reaches above his head. An African-American child wearing a black long sleeve is doing the same. Their hands are joined as they work on a wooden toy.
“Collaboration” is wily in that it shows the boys in a setting society of the day said they should not be allowed together. Boston schools were segregated, but Morris’ kids were oblivious to that.
“Poor Peoples March” shows the Great 1968 March in Washington D.C. This photo was taken at a high angle showing a sea of protestors with signs raised above their heads and a van in the background that read “Emergency.” Organized by Martin Luther King Jr, the Great March called for economic justice.
“Elementary Statistics” is a portrait of a young African-American wearing a white turtleneck underneath two other pieces of dark layered clothing. She is blowing bubblegum as her bangs stand up. It shows the playfulness of a child transcending unsavory surroundings. Rendón said she loved the photo because it reminded her of childhood.
“The girl with the bubble gum, I just remember my sisters, we used to just do that for hours and hours,” she said. “It’s just something that brings me back to the memories.”
Morris was passionate about his subjects, Rendon said, as well as his photos.
“I see the possibilities for growth, for the excitement of learning, for the formation of dreams that will take them up and out into productive, contributive lives.”
