NEMCC Art Gallery features work of photographer Michael H. Miller

Over 50 pieces of work chronicles the last two decades of capturing history

by Michael H. Miller

BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- (02/06/2023) — From behind the small viewfinder of a camera, Michael H. Miller has witnessed some of Mississippi's most important events of the last 20 years firsthand.

Miller's work is now on display in the Northeast Mississippi Community College Anderson Hall Art Gallery until February 16.

Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.

On display are over 50 pieces of work that chronicles Miller's life through the last two decades, first at the Daily Corinthian in Corinth and finally in the last 15 years, at Northeast Mississippi Community College as the college's Public Information Specialist.

Miller's work not only documents some of the moments at Northeast but carries viewers through the Magnolia State as he worked to capture athletes at the top of their games.

Most of his work features the highs of the athletic word dating all the way back to the early 2000s. In the gallery includes photos of Booneville High School head football coach Jim Drewry being interviewed in Mooreville after winning his 300th game or former Northeast softball coach David Carnell receiving an ice water celebration after beating Mississippi Delta for his 150th win.

One of the largest pieces in the exhibit is former Corinth High School head football coach Todd Lowery and current head coach Justin Dye being covered in water after the Warriors secured their first-ever Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A state football championship on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi in December 2019.

Other statement pieces in the exhibit include "Basketball Dreams," a goal on an old carriage road in downtown Corinth, that he shot while walking to the Corinth Christmas parade one year, the iconic Sin Alco sign on the side of the Corinth Coliseum, a silhouette of a Civil War solider during the National Park Service's Grand Illumination and a photo of former Ole Miss linebacker Patrick Willis rubbing the head of Chucky Mullins' bust as he entered the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Not only do the statement pieces capture sports but life around the Magnolia State and beyond as do the rest of the pieces in the exhibit.

Photos from Pass Christian and Gulfport dot the exhibit as do moments that cannot be recreated again.

Miller has selected a shot of the SS Hurricane Camille that was an icon on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to be part of the exhibit and a flag he found on the beach following Hurricane Katrina and a statue of the Virgin Mary watching over the cleanup following Hurricane Katrina.

Two pieces joined the ranks of the exhibit in December and January. While walking out from R&T's Burger Shop in downtown Booneville, Miller noticed a hole covered in spider webs in an old barnwood board and snapped it with his iPhone. The latest addition is Northeast women's basketball coach Chelsey Rhodes arguing a call against rival Itawamba Community College on January 9.

Not only does Miller's work contains sports but it documents his work as a portrait photographer as well.

Miller's work contains work from film - such as snow-covered cannons at the Shiloh National Battlefield and an 8x10 from his trip to Alaska in 2001, to digital photography to even some digital artwork that helped him become a more well-rounded photographer.

Media Attachments