Florence County Library presents author of book on pastor Knowlin

Friends of the Florence County Library will present “True Places: A Lowcountry Preacher, His Church and His People” by Stanley F. Lanzano at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Drs. Bruce & Lee Foundation Library.

The event will be in the Stukes Meeting Room with moderator Louis Venters, an assistant professor at Francis Marion University.

The Lighthouse of Jesus Christ Choir will also be featured.

“True Places” is an emotionally charged photographic documentary of the lives of evangelical pastor Floyd Knowlin and his close-knit African American congregations. They live, work and worship in a rural stretch of coastal South Carolina. 

Lanzano is a photographer. For more than a decade, he has immersed himself in the daily practices of this community in Williamsburg and Georgetown counties He befriended Knowlin, becoming a welcomed part of his extended church family.

The 83-page black-and-white and eight color photographs, illustrate a vibrant coastal subculture rarely witnessed by outsiders.

Many of Lanzano’s photographs document services and church revivals, conveying the great joy, sorrow, and fervor of these meetings, while highlighting Knowlin’s captivating persona.

Lanzano also grants his readers glimpses into baptisms in the murky, still waters of lowcountry South Carolina rivers.

Beyond the church he takes us into the private homes and lives of Knowlin’s flock. Many are of Gullah descent and keep elements of this heritage alive in their daily practices. It is a rarity for a photographer to be granted such unlimited access into these communities.

Lanzano is a self-taught photographer and storyteller. A native New Yorker, he is a graduate of Mount Saint Mary’s and Yale universities.

He moved with his family from New York to Boulder, Colo., in 1974. He developed his photographic interests after a successful real estate career.

Lanzano’s work has been featured at the McKissick Museum in Columbia, the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Ga., the Denver Art Museum, and numerous other galleries in Colorado.

The author will speak and sign books in the Stukes Meeting Room at 6:30 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call (843) 413-7065.