A series documenting the margins of the American Bible Belt by Nashville-based photographer Shawne Brown. Brown was born near Kingsport in northeast Tennessee and studied photography at East Tennessee State University. His work addresses the cultural and physical landscape of his home state, its connections to regional and national history, and resistance to the rapid changes in the area. From his family home to the Kansas heartland where his wife was born, “See the Elephant” is an attempt to come to terms with the place in which he grew up. The title is based on an expression used during the Civil War by soldiers whose heroic ideals of warfare were destroyed by the actual carnage of battle:

“The phrase has since come to be used as shorthand for gaining knowledge through experience at the high cost of disillusionment. Disillusionment, however, can be recognized as a gift that allows one the possibility of seeing more clearly, even somewhere as complicated as the place you’re from.”

Shawne Brown participated in our 2026 Book Award open call and made our shortlist.