Black History Month: A picture of change in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As we wrap up Black History Month, we'd like to introduce you to a quiet force in Houston.

Photographer Earlie Hudnall has documented many of Houston's major events and most dramatic changes, especially in minority neighborhoods.

For more than four decades, Hudnall was the chief photographer for the largest HBCU in our area, historically black Texas Southern University.

That meant he took pictures of many famous faces and major events both in Houston and around the globe.

But his best-known images are of everyday people living in modest circumstances in neighborhoods undergoing gentrification. Hudnall describes the lengths he would go to in mastering his powerful and poignant photographs, like three children standing on top of a tree with giant roots.

"I was able to lie down on the street in front of the car," he said. "And shoot up to make the picture."

Hudnall's inspiration to take pictures started in childhood, with a father who loved capturing important family moments.

"My father was just a normal, everyday amateur photographer that made pictures of the family on special occasions, like Easter or when we got new school clothes on certain Sundays and things of this nature," Hudnall said.

And his dad wasn't the only influence in his young life.

"My grandmother was like the community historian, and she kept this photo album of photographs of people in the community, obituaries, newspaper clippings, and photographs of my father when he was in military service," Hudnall explained. "So, looking at the album, looking at those photographs and things at an early age, I began to understand the importance of documenting one's community."

After serving in Vietnam, Hudnall moved from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to Houston after a friend suggested he take art classes at TSU. It led to lifelong friendships with and employment by two powerhouses - legendary artist and professor Dr. John Biggers and award-winning debater Dr. Thomas Freeman. Hudnall said his job was to shoot debate competitions around the world and historic neighborhoods around the city, largely funded by former President Lyndon B. Johnson's Model Cities program.

"We need y'all to go out into the community, Third Ward, Fourth Ward, Fifth Ward, Sunnyside, Trinity Garden, and to document the community," Freeman told him.

It became an obsession for him, especially the Fourth Ward - with its searing images of the contrast between the haves and have-nots.

"I saw the juxtaposition of the houses and skylines," Hudnall said. "This is one of the houses in the Fourth Ward. And you see the clothing on the line, and with the city skyline, how it's begun to grow."

He's shot the famous, like Nelson Mandela, Muhammed Ali, Mickey Leland, and Barbara Jordan, along with at least four U.S. presidents.

But he's known for capturing the every day in black and white - intimate shots of people from all walks of life.

"I always would look at people features," Hudnall said. "I look at how they dress. I look at their smile and so forth. And my connection with people is more or less an eye contact. I look people in the eye."

Hudnall is a rare breed of photographer. In this age of digital photography, he still prints his pictures in his darkroom, and he has more than 50,000 images. He says that will never change, even though he's now retired from TSU.

"What I like about this process is that it's a labor of love. I'm able to control it from beginning to end," he said.

When asked if he realized at the time that he was documenting change in neighborhoods like Fourth Ward, now known as Midtown, Hudnall said, "Not really. I knew I was drawn back over and over."

And he talks about the big picture he's seen over the decades.

"Our city is forever evolving. It is going through a change, a metamorphosis of change, changing and changing. And in some sense, that's good. Then there's the tragedy about it, too. Neighborhoods changes, the demographics change," Hudnall said.

As for his part in capturing the changes, he said, "When we go back, and we look at history, we see cultures, the artifacts, and so forth. But what is missing is the people that we don't see."

"I feel that it's an opportunity for me to be able to be blessed, to be able to document our communities. I feel that this is where I would do my most important work," he continued.

Hudnall's work has won him numerous awards, and his photos are in the permanent collections of many major museums, like the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

He's also had numerous exhibitions of his work, including a retrospective being shown in Beaumont.

He said his photographs were not about his own fame but about the people he's met and documented over the years.

While his first inspirations were his dad and his grandmother, Hudnall now says his biggest supporter was his wife Brenda, who passed away suddenly more than a decade away. He still gets emotional talking about it. It's a role he says is now filled by their daughter, Margaret.

But he says his longest-running supporter has been TSU, which allowed him to not only shoot for the university but also pursue his projects while working there.

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