Roosevelt Dudley lives in Rosedale MS where the most common occupation is "gettin' a check" (i.e. welfare). Steel Reserve, a high gravity malt liquor is the local drink of choice.
Rosedale, a small town in the Mississippi Delta has a rich blues music heritage. It was immortalized in the line "going down to Rosedale, my rider by my side....." from the song "Crossroads" by Eric Clapton / Cream. Rosedale is the location of MS HW#1 and #8, known as the "Crossroads" where in the 1930s blues legend, Robert Johnson, supposedly traded his soul at midnight to the devil for his musical ability.
I brought Roosevelt a print of this photo six months after I made it. He gave me the hat he was wearing in the photo as a show of his gratitude. Unfortunately it had a nest of roaches living inside