VIRGINIA POVERTY LAW CENTER: 40 YEARS, 40 FACES

For the past 40 years, the Virginia Poverty Law Center has committed to leading and coordinating efforts to seek justice in civil legal matters for lower-income Virginians. What does the VPLC do? It is a state support center for the nine local legal aid programs in Virginia. They do policy work that impacts many Virginians, providing education, materials, and pro bono attorneys for clients.

In recognition of this 40th anniversary of VPLC, photographer Glen McClure and writer Marshall McClure traveled throughout Virginia to document individuals and families who have benefited from this work. Glen McClure has created a series of portraits that share the great tradition of social documentary photography but are also, in their own merit, great artistic achievements. Combined with interviews with each subject, they offer us a window into the lives of those Virginians who live in low-income circumstances while working to make their lives better with dignity, hope, and at times, simple acceptance.

From domestic violence survivor and immigrant Jae in Southwest Virginia to Northern Virginia native Tiffany who has been assisted with problematic payday loan issues, the VPLC continues to assist those most in need throughout the state.

This exhibition creates the opportunity for a conversation about what it means to be poor in the 21st century. The inherent integrity projected from each image asks us not only to pause and look each individual in the eye, but to carry these conversations out into the world and work to ensure that they become documents of a past no longer experienced by any citizen of Virginia or beyond.

— Jeffrey Allison, Curator

Please click on any photograph to read his/her bio.