“Blossoming” by Rebecca Norris Webb, part of the photographer’s exhibition “Night Calls” inspired by her father’s work as a rural doctor in Rushville. The exhibition is making its debut at University of Indianapolis through Oct. 25. SUBMITTED PHOTO
The weight of the work became clear.
As Rebecca Norris Webb traveled around the rural Rush County countryscape that her father had traversed making house calls as a doctor, she started to feel closer to the people he treated and the responsibilities he held. Taking photographs late at night or in the early morning, she a bond appeared, linking her to her family’s past and its connection to the county.
Naming the collection of images “Night Calls,” Norris Webb created a meditation on being the daughter of a small-town doctor in a rural county — a physician who didn’t refuse treatment to anyone.
“So, that meant some payments arrived at our door in the form of fresh vegetables from a farmer’s field, say, or perhaps baked goods from a mother whose six children he’d delivered,” she said.
For the first time ever, the public can experience that meditation for themselves. Norris Webb has debuted “Night Calls” in an exhibition now showing at the University of Indianapolis. Admission to “Night Calls” is free and open to the public at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center.
An artist reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday.
Being able to feature the exhibition for its world-debut is an incredible opportunity, said Sarah Pfohl, associate professor of photography and art education at UIndy.
“I’m really excited to bring the work home to Indiana where it was made. It’s almost like a homecoming for the work,” she said. “It means so much that (Norris Webb) trusted us with the work.”
The idea for “Night Calls” came as Norris Webb was studying at the International Center for Photography. There she discovered the iconic photo essay W. Eugene Smith had done for Life Magazine, “Country Doctor.” She was drawn to the photo essay’s subject, Dr. Ernest Ceriani, who happened to be just a few years older than her father, a 100-plus-year-old doctor who served the people of Rush County for decades, delivering more than 1,000 babies.
They even wore similar fedoras, Norris Webb said.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘How would a woman tell this story, especially if she happens to be the doctor’s daughter?’” she said.
That question led Norris Webb to echo her father’s work rhythms. She started photographing Rush County at night and in the early morning — times when many people come into the world as well as leave it through death, she said.
“Driving half-asleep through this rural county in the dead of night, I could imagine my father driving his 1964 Chrysler 300 on these same narrow roads concerned about a homebound patient, or his Quaker great-grandfather making house calls with his daughter — Dad’s grandmother — in their horse and buggy,” she said.
Certain photographs are accompanied with text, reflecting Norris Webb’s experience as a poet. A prose poem she composed for an image of an autumn corn field is addressed to her father.
“You taught me to accept whatever came to the door: a bushel of corn, two porterhouse steaks, a bag of bittersweet horehound candy — your favorite — and the suffering each of us carry, sometimes nearly hidden except for something about the eyes. How heavy this homemade lemon pie with its mountains upon mountains of meringue,” she said.
With each photograph added to the collection, Norris Webb hoped to capture what she described as difficult and in some ways impossible task — “How is the legacy of looking closely at the world around us with care, curiosity and compassion passed on from father to daughter?”
As the project neared completion, Norris Webb added some collaborative portraits with some of her father’s patients. In the images, she tried to convey her father’s gentle bedside manner, she said.
One of patients was Suanne Sloan Evans, a neighbor and childhood friend, whom her father delivered in the late 1950s. While making the portrait, Norris Webb asked her to let her mind wander, and, struck by the dreaminess of her gaze, asked her friend what she was thinking.
She replied that she was remember when she was 5 years old and cut her knee, and how Norris Webb’s father carried her in his arms all the way to the hospital.
“When I look at this portrait of Suanne now, I see my father’s kindness and compassion — which is the essence, the very best part of him — which will remain long after his presence no longer graces this world of ours,” Norris Webb said.
Pfohl, the UIndy professor, was familiar with Norris Webb’s work. She had taken a workshop with her and her husband, Alex Webb, also a photographer, about five years ago. Their shared Indiana connections led them to stay in touch over the years, and when she was looking for a home for “Night Calls,” Pfohl though UIndy would be an ideal home.
“The photographs are incredible. The image level of the work is really exciting, and I knew that my students would learn so much from seeing the images,” she said. “Bigger picture, the work is rooted in Indiana history and culture — an homage to Indiana rural life and Indiana’s people, so I knew my students would find a connection there, and hopefully folks from beyond the university would as well.”
For Norris Webb, it’s an incredibly meaningful place to debut the work. Her father worked at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis shortly after World War II before starting medical school. Rush County, the subject of the exhibition, is a short drive away.
“For the artist reception on Oct. 3, I’m expecting family, friends, and some of Dad’s former patients, their children, and grandchildren,” she said. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this work than having a room full of people whose lives have been touched by this soft-spoken, humble, kind, and compassionate man, whom I’m honored to call father.”
As part of the exhibition, Norris Webb and Alex Webb will present the Sutphin Lecture, a visiting artist discussion. Their lecture, entitled “TWO LOOKS: The Photographs of Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb” will focus on the artistic works and collaboration between the two. They have published more than 20 books together and apart, including “Violet Isle: A Duet of Photographs from Cuba.”
The lecture will be 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at UIndy Hall A in the Schwitzer Student Center, and will be followed by a Q&A as well as a book signing.
IF YOU GO
“Night Calls”
What: Debut of photography and poetry exhibit by Rebecca Norris Webb
Where: Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center, 1230 Greyhound Lane, Indianapolis
When: 9 a.m-4 p.m. now through Oct. 25. The exhibition is closed for university holidays, including Oct. 14-15 which is UIndy’s fall break
Artist reception: 4-6 p.m. Thursday
Cost: Free
Sutphin Lecture: “TWO LOOKS: The Photographs of Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb” followed by Q-and-A and a book signing. The lecture will be 6 p.m. Friday at UIndy Hall A, Schwitzer Student Center, 1400 Campus Dr, Indianapolis. The lecture is free.
