CityView Magazine

life” despite his personal and financial struggles. Unlike Nebraska Wesleyan, where the undergraduate population consists mostly of native Nebraskans, Savannah College of Art and Design has a more diverse student body as well as faculty. Ironically, fellow SCAD students ste- reotyped him as a Nebraska farm boy. Again, Booth felt he did not fit in. In Savannah, Booth learned about the darker side of life. Thieves burglarized his home and car, and his 6-foot plus frame dropped to 150 pounds when food became a luxury rather than a ne- cessity. “All my money went to pay for photo supplies. After Savannah, I didn’t have my rose-colored glasses anymore.” The experience in Savannah, Booth said, helped him grow and lose his naivety about the world and life in general. Booth credits his grandmother, Tillie Silas, for inspiring him and nur- turing his love of art. However, Mike Disfarmer played a significant role in influencing Booth’s creative eye for stark portraiture. Disfarmer plied his trade in rural Herber Springs, Ark., in the late 1930s through the 1950s. Born Mike Meyer, he changed his name to Disfarmer to reject and distance him- self from his family’s agrarian roots. The eccentric Disfarmer’s use of direct northern lighting is evident in many of Booth’s photographs. Disfarmer’s un- flattering portraits of rural Americana inspired Booth, who compiled portraits of what he called “stereotypes” as part of his master’s thesis. Booth came to Fayetteville from Waynesboro, Ga., to teach a weekly photo class at Fayetteville Technical Community College. His commitment to teaching photography on a college level prompted him to commute to Fay- etteville for his weekly class. He picked up additional part-time work so that he could afford the move to Fayetteville where he now shares his home with a “psycho” cat named Bullet. Fayetteville State University art professor Soni Martin hired Booth to establish a strong photography curricu- lum. In reviewing his work, Martin saw something she liked in the tall, lanky Booth. “I could tell he was technically proficient and knowledgeable about photography, but he also had a voice, a personal voice,” she said of his work. “He has great ideas and his work is highly original.” Michele Horn, assistant director and curator of the Fayetteville Museum of Art, agrees there is something special about his work. As someone who sees thousands of pieces of art displayed in the museum’s galleries, Horn says she is drawn to work that at a first glance has a certain aesthetic and appeal, but on second glance reveals something deeper. “His work does that,” Horn said of Booth’s photographs that have won notice in several juried art competitions at the museum. For now, Booth enjoys his tenure as professor at FSU, writing new photog- raphy curricula that will eventually ex- pand that department’s offerings in the visual arts media. “I love it there,” he said. “The stu- dents are amazing. We’re able to talk about social issues and we get into some real heated discussions.”CV CityViewNC.com | 25

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