Johnathon Kelso photographs the Sacred Harp singing groups of southern America

Sacred Harp singing is a long-standing tradition that originated in the deep south of America. A type of choral music, it’s derived from The Sacred Harp songbook printed in 1844 that included songs written in “shape note” – a way of notating music to encourage communal singing.

It’s continued to have a popular, if a little niche, following especially in the Baptist churches of the south and the hymns are a way for the community to musically convey their religious feelings. Photographer Johnathon Kelso has captured groups in the Georgia and Alabama region beautifully in I Want to Die A-Shouting, but it was by chance he even became a part of a Sacred Harp group. 

“I first came to know about Sacred Harp music through a girl I was dating. She was given a recording of a singing… We listened half bewildered, half intrigued, but eventually we threw the tape out of the car window. A year or so later, a friend of mine tricked me into going to a singing by telling me he was taking me out for dinner. After that I was hooked!”

Going from joining to photographing was a slow progression for Johnathon. “The music itself is so intensely powerful and moving that [for a while] I was content with enjoying the singing aspect alone. After two years of singing, I felt a strong sense of belonging within the community, and then the desire to photograph began. I still find it difficult these days to put down my songbook long enough to use my camera.”

Johnathon’s images show the power and bond that forms with group singing. His portraits of the individual singers and the wider group shots of people sat in wooden-panelled rooms clutching well-thumbed hymn books perfectly demonstrate this sense of harmony. The breadth of ages and backgrounds in the group is fascinating. “Despite all the differences Sacred Harp singers sing in unity and together as one voice and sing joyfully together,” says the photographer. 

When I first came across this series I thought it was an outsider looking in on a community and capturing the interactions between its members. But knowing how involved Johnathon is in the Sacred Harp group, gives the images a warmth and understanding.