Toni Pitts

Toni Pitts is a photographer and researcher based in Blacksburg, Virginia, whose practice explores the intersections of landscape, memory, and African American history. Working with 35mm, 120mm, and digital photography, Pitts documents African American cemeteries across Montgomery County and the surrounding region, focusing on burial grounds connected to enslaved people and their descendants.

Through a deliberate, landscape-based approach, Pitts combines field photography with archival research and oral history to reveal spaces long overlooked or erased from the historical record. Her images illustrate the subtle traces of memory found in the land--sunken graves, leaning fieldstones, and trees rooted in unmarked plots--inviting viewers to reckon with the enduring legacy of slavery and segregation. 

Pitts's practice is deeply shaped by independence and a dedication to craftsmanship. She built her own darkroom from the ground up, designing a fully functional workspace. This commitment to traditional processes allows her to slow down and maintain full control over every stage of print making. .

Currently pursing an MFA in Photography Pitts's work engages themes of historical erasure, and the politics of preservation. Here ongoing project advocates for the protection and recognition of African American burial sites, using photography as both a tool of witness and a means of cultural reclamation.

I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at the point I had to have a camera.

--Gordon Parks