What color is the air you breathe? follows the travels of photographer Alex Christopher Williams as he explores America’s history of violence throughout the American South. Guided by notable photographs made in the South, Williams’ pictures revisit sites of historical significance to the slave trade, the confederacy, urban renewal projects, and the civil rights movements from the 20th and 21st centuries.
The images depict the old Mississippi River slave port in Natchez, Mississippi, buildings saved from Sherman’s march to the sea, a confederate death site, the neighborhood of Summerhill’s iconic destruction, intimate moments in protest, stains from the klan’s entrenchment on the South, and technology-assisted memories of a civil war era Willams’ family reunion.
The photographs reflect on the residue of the indelible truths of the past that existed throughout the photographer's travels. Incapable of separating from the history’s past that is littered throughout the landscape, the images illustrate a tale of Williams’ time travel as he searches for more elusive truths about America and his family's past.