Low Country Rambler Revisited

By Beth Yarbrough

Continuing our most popular of 2024, my interview with Brandon Coffey first appeared in September of this year.

This is the first in a series of interviews with noted Southern photographers, all of whom I have met since founding Southern Voice. Each of us has a particular focus and trademark style, but we all share a common love of the South and her stories.

Brandon Coffey is based in the Charleston, SC area and has built a solid reputation for documenting the architecture of the Low Country with his camera. I am one of his biggest fans.

• You have mentioned that you became interested in old houses and photography at a young age. How young were you, and what sparked your interest?

I was around 13-14 years old. Kids from school kept mentioning a haunted place they went to on weekends called Strawberry Chapel. I was intrigued by the tales they’d tell about being scared and wanted to see the place for myself. My mom took me, my aunts, sister, and cousin out there late one evening and we all had a good scare, mostly from our imagination running wild. Later, at a Halloween event, a friend of my aunt’s told me that she was related to a woman named Catherine Chicken and that a book had been written about her called Little Mistress Chicken by Mrs. Arthur Gordon Rose. The story detailed how a schoolmaster tied Catherine to a tombstone at Strawberry Chapel as a child and forgot about her overnight. I tracked the book down and read it as soon as it arrived in the mail. At the end, it mentioned how Catherine married Benjamin Simons III and lived out her life at Middleburg Plantation. Knowing that there was more to the story of this fascinating woman had me intrigued, it was a bit like piecing together a puzzle. I started researching Middleburg and found the owner’s name, I looked him up and gave him a call and much to my surprise, he welcomed me out there with open arms. Not only did he show me the home where Catherine lived and raised her family, he drove me down a dirt path to the neighboring Pompion Hill Chapel to see her grave. The pieces of the puzzle were complete and my fascination with local history soared. My passion for photography was discovered from these visits and wanting to find a way to document where I had been and what I had seen.

• You are fortunate to live in close proximity to one of the greatest concentrations of historic architecture in the entire South, but with such an abundance of riches to choose from, do you have a favorite, or a list of top three favorites?

I am constantly thankful for living somewhere with such a plentiful amount of America’s built history. I love any and everything that is old but I am particularly fond of Strawberry Chapel. My love of South Carolina’s history really grew from that special place so it will always be near and dear to my heart. I feel the same way about Middleburg and coincidentally, it is the plantation where I’ve spent the most time.

I have even stayed the night on several occasions, which was always a true pinch me moment for me. My other favorite is absolutely Medway Plantation in Goose Creek, the oldest brick home in the state. The house is very European in look and feel and just has a mysterious quality to it that makes it impossible to ignore. When reading about its former owner, Gertrude Legendre, you cannot help but get intoxicated by her world and her zest for life. Her passion for Medway is one I feel similarly without ever even having known her, I feel like I did. I have been in contact with her grandson over the years and he is so warm and has the same appreciation for history that his grandmother had. Coincidentally, I am now Strawberry Chapel’s official photographer and have a great relationship with the vestry. They’re wonderful and have fought hard to keep it secure from vandals seeking a thrill. I don’t believe it is actually haunted but the rumors have persisted over the years.

• A lot of places that I photograph keep inspiring me to return because they show me something different every time I visit, whether it is rare light or a different season or whatever. Do you find that as well, and if so, what are a few of those places for you?

Oh yes, I’m a big fan of revisiting places over and over again. Whether it be a new season, a different time of day, etc., it will always be a new experience. Obviously with privately owned homes, that is harder to manage. Thankfully, the ruins of Comingtee Plantation are part of a state owned wildlife management area and I can visit pretty much any time I want, as long as a hunt isn’t scheduled.

Comingtee has a very energetic feel to it that I am constantly drawn to and do visit often, at least several times per month. Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston is another favorite. While it may not be a home or church, the funerary art of this once “rural cemetery” is just gorgeous. The property was laid out to have a park-like setting with incredible trees, flowers, paths, and lakes. Every single visit brings out a new detail which makes it feel like a new discovery — it honestly never gets old.

• You love photographing alligators and wildlife almost as much as you love old houses, and it shows in your work. Have you ever had any close calls?

Thankfully I have not. Alligators are predators and should be treated with respect and caution but they do get a seriously bad rap. They’re largely afraid of us and want to keep a safe distance just as much as we do. The only time that seems to falter is when people have pets too close to the water’s edge and an alligator senses them as prey, because of the size. Also when people feed alligators, they become used to humans and problems ensue. Thankfully more education around that seems to be taking place these days and we can coexist peacefully as we have for thousands of years. I could watch alligators all day, they’re graceful, powerful, prehistoric, and just plain cool.

• Do you have some favorite photos, and if so, can you share the story of how they happened?

One of my all-time favorite photos was taken at a house we both love in McClellanville. I was leaving the marina one evening and as I was passing the A. O. Atkinson House, I saw the sun setting right through a rocking chair on the screened-in porch. I slammed on brakes and got the shot. That scene invoked such a feeling of loss and home for me.

• I know that you make appointments and get permission on a lot of the historic structures, but how much of your work happens by accident?

The plantations are usually by appointment because of the prior work needed to get beyond the gates. Everything else is purely by chance. I’m kind of terrible at making plans and scheduling, so sometimes I wake up and decide I’m going to go for a drive today. Those often are those happy accidents that make for memorable photos or stories.

• You have collaborated with two good friends from McClellanville on one or more books. Tell us a little about “Billy and Bud” and how those projects came about.

Bud and Billy are fantastic, I feel so fortunate to know both of them. Earlier I mentioned researching Middleburg as a young teen. It was then when I discovered the local interest area at Barnes & Noble and found the book Plantations of the Low Country by William P. Baldwin and N. Jane Iseley. It was because of that book that I had any idea that so many historic places still existed all around us. I couldn’t tell you the hours I spent studying each place from the photos to the text researched by Billy’s mom, Agnes L. Baldwin. I used that as a guide in my early days to look owners up and reach out to them to see more and more properties. Fast forward to 2014, a friend and I were in McClellanville and had just finished up viewing the St. James Santee Chapel. I stepped out on the porch and saw a man walking by, it was Billy Baldwin. I immediately took off towards the road to introduce myself as he was getting into his truck. He knew of me because we had become Facebook friends by then but he was just as surprised as I was to meet by surprise and invited us to come back to his home. We followed him home and spent the next two hours in his living room with his wonderful wife, Lil, talking about old places and getting to know each other. He sent my friend and I home with a huge stack of his books all personally signed, It was a surreal experience as he shaped so much of my interest and love for the Lowcountry — we have been friends ever since. Bud I met a few years later when I visited Peachtree Plantation with an archaeologist friend who was doing her thesis there. Afterwards, we went to T.W. Graham to eat and Bud stopped by the table to talk to my new friend and we were introduced. Bud and I had also already been Facebook friends and I knew his nephew through high school. What a character he was AND is! Such a talented duo, those two. Billy eventually convinced me to do a book with his help, which was called Carolina Places. Later, the three of us collaborated on a photography exhibit with the McClellanville Arts Council called Carolina Ramblers, and Billy and I did another book called Southern Wonders. It’s funny how things work out but I’m very thankful for the friendship of those two gentlemen, it has been an honor knowing and working with them.

All photos are copyright Brandon Coffey. Much of Brandon’s work appears on his Facebook page. If you are interested in purchasing a print from him, you can reach him at itsbrandoyo@gmail.com.