Let My People Go: Cairo, Illinois, 1967-1973

In the late sixties Cairo, Illinois was a major battleground for civil rights. Preston Ewing, a local activist and photographer, made these remarkable images of major and minor events. These images are devoid of the kind of sensationalism that compress events into photographs. Rather they reveal the complexity of human behviour, history, and culture directly. These are images of anonymous heroes, seen on a human scale, through personal eyes: we are fortunate to have a record of their bravery. Let My People Go also includes many accompanying quotes by the participants, eloquently contextualizing the photographs.