Gillian Laub is well known for her photographic series that depict charged social and political issues. Laub’s project Southern Rites is the result of a twelve-year engagement with issues of race and equality in Mt. Vernon, Georgia. The project visually explores Montgomery County High School’s prom and homecoming, which were racially segregated almost every year from 1971 to 2002, when Laub began her investigation. Laub’s photo essay brought a torrent of attention and outrage upon the town, leading to integration for the formal occasions.