FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The Fairhope Unitarian Fellowship is honored to host the powerful black and while photographs of Sonia Handelman Meyer. The opening reception will be held at the Fairhope Unitarian Fellowship on Feb. 6, from 3-5 p.m.

The Unitarian String Quartet will provide music for the reception, with refreshments by Joyce Burkhart. The public is cordially invited to attend.

In the mid-1940s, Meyer was a member of the influential Photo League of New York City. Founded in 1936, the organization offered its members a forum in serious photography with access to darkrooms, classes, lectures and exhibition opportunities.

Members of the League included well-known photographers Paul Strand, W. Eugene Smith, Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange.

Meyer served for a while as the League secretary, their only paid position.

As a photographer, she dedicated herself to social documentation, taking powerful photographs of local neighborhoods and their citizens, always with a sympathetic eye for the human condition.

Her imagery focused on the humanity of her subjects, be they immigrants, children, hospital patients, or folk singers.

Meyer photographed extensively at the Sydenham Hospital in Harlem where 60 percent of patients were not charged for treatment.

Her images in Harlem, the Village and Brooklyn accentuated the humanity of those facing economic adversity and often focused on children finding joy in the midst of towering tenements.

This talented photographer worked at a time when women were not always recognized. One of her photographs of the folk music group, the Weavers, was often published without giving her photo credit.

She exhibited in Photo League exhibitions, and her photographs were featured in newspapers and other publications of the time.

She moved to Charlotte, N.C. in 2002 to be near her son, Joe, who brought her to the attention of photo historian, Lili Corbus, and Carolyn DeMeritt of Hodges Taylor Gallery.

In 2007, the gallery organized an exhibition and catalogue of her photographs. This exhibition, “Into the Light,” reintroduced Meyer’s photographs to the public and helped bring her the attention she so richly deserves.

The exhibit will remain on display through April 25, open to the public on Saturdays, from 3-5 p.m.

The Unitarian Fellowship is located at 1150 Fairhope Ave., across from the Baldwin County Satellite Courthouse.