Andrea Morales is a name you’ll want to remember, especially if you love Memphis. Her work is making waves, and not just locally, but on a broader stage as she celebrates her first major museum exhibition at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art: Roll Down Like Water. Available until January 2025, this exhibit is a moving testament to the power of storytelling through imagery, capturing the essence of Memphis and its ever-evolving story.
A Love Letter to Memphis
Morales, a Peruvian-American photographer now based in Memphis, has spent over a decade chronicling the changes in the city and its surrounding regions. Through her camera lens, she has artfully documented the collective heartbeat of a place that defies simple definitions. Whether it’s the complex beauty of a street corner or the quiet resilience of a community, Morales knows how to capture Memphis in all its glory and grit.
For Morales, these photographs are personal love letters to Memphis—a theme that reverberates throughout her exhibition. Visitors can even participate in this sentiment by leaving their own love letters to the city in the Andrea Morales Interactive Gallery, contributing to a shimmering mural that, like her work, honors the city’s beauty, struggles, and promise.
Movement Journalism: More Than Just Photographs
One of the most significant aspects of Roll Down Like Water is its foundation in Movement Journalism. This emerging, community-focused form of journalism builds on the legacies of activism in the American South, centering the voices of the people and the power of grassroots movements. For Morales, her photographs do more than document—they tell the stories of individuals, communities, and the structures that shape society.
Her images are often tender and complex, shining a light on the moments of stillness, turbulence, beauty, and darkness that characterize life in the South. Inspired by the legacies of activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—whose final speech in Memphis gives the exhibition its name—Morales doesn’t shy away from the structural issues that define the region. She invites her audience to engage with these realities while celebrating the potential for change, community strength, and individual action.
Through this exhibition, Morales sets a new path for sustainable, ethical journalism that puts communities first. In this sense, Roll Down Like Water is a blueprint for a new kind of storytelling—one that uplifts and empowers.
Did you know Roll Down Like Water is also a book published by the University of Chicago Press?!
Check out the book cover below!
Why Roll Down Like Water Matters to Memphis
Memphis is a city that thrives on storytelling. From the music that has defined generations to the rich history of civil rights activism, the soul of this city lies in the stories we tell—and those we choose to listen to. Morales’s work taps into this deep well of Memphis identity, offering a new lens through which we can see ourselves, our neighbors, and the city we call home.
The photographs in Roll Down Like Water hold up a mirror to Memphis, reflecting back not only the challenges but also the beauty that emerges in unexpected places. These images are a reminder that Memphis is a place where history and progress often dance together, where the past is never far from the present, but where there is always the potential for new beginnings.
In a city where music and activism have long been intertwined, Morales’s work is both timely and timeless. It speaks to the current moment while acknowledging the deep roots of change in the city. Her exhibition offers an opportunity for all of us to consider our place in this ongoing story, encouraging us to think about how we can invest in and enjoy life in Memphis in new ways.
Getting Involved: The Interactive Gallery
One of the most exciting features of Roll Down Like Water is the Andrea Morales Interactive Gallery, which offers a hands-on way for visitors to connect with Memphis. As Morales herself has called her photos love letters to the city, visitors are invited to write their own. Using gold paper, visitors can hang their messages on a mural, creating a collective expression of what Memphis means to its people. It’s a beautiful way to engage with the art and the city simultaneously, reflecting the dual goals of investment and enjoyment that are central to life in Memphis.
Beyond the love letters, the gallery also features a space where visitors can upload their own photographs of Memphis. These images will be included in a rotating digital gallery that celebrates the community’s collective vision of the city.
Why You Should Go
If you’re looking for a way to invest in and enjoy Memphis, make time to see Roll Down Like Water at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Morales’s work will leave you with a deeper understanding of the city, its history, and its future. Morales invites you to be a part of something bigger, to engage with the stories that shape Memphis, and to think about how we can all contribute to making this city an even better place to live.
Plus, with the interactive gallery, you’ll be adding your own voice to the conversation. Whether it’s a love letter to the city or a snapshot of your favorite Memphis moment, your contribution will become part of the exhibition itself, reminding us all that the story of Memphis is still being written.
So, head to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, take in the powerful images of Andrea Morales, and remember that Memphis is a city where justice, community, and creativity continue to roll down like mighty waters.
