Gillian Laub’s potent images of racially segregated proms brought Montgomery County’s ‘dark secret’ into the open. Southern Rites, her new HBO documentary, details the town’s triumphs and tragedies in confronting its difficult history

Teenagers in Montgomery, Georgia celebrated their fifth integrated prom this year – thanks, in part, to photographer Gillian Laub who spent 12 years documenting the town’s struggle to confront deep-seated racial tensions – and ended up transforming the town through her images.

In 2009, the New York Times Magazine published a series of Laub’s photographs of Montgomery County high school’s racially segregated proms. The piece exposed what Laub calls the town’s “dark secret” and sparked a debate that eventually led to Montgomery County finally integrating prom. In 2011, Laub returned to document the historical event and learned that one of her previous subjects, a young black man, had been murdered.

Now, Laub has turned her study of racial tensions in Montgomery County and the killing of Justin Patterson into a documentary. Southern Rites, which airs on 18 May on HBO, explores the community’s struggle to move forward from its difficult past amid newfound tragedy. Musician John Legend produced the film.

Ahead of Southern Rites’s debut, we spoke to Laub about the teenagers she met in Montgomery, how the residents have reacted to her project and what it’s been like to witness a town in transition.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Students walk through the parking lot outside the first integrated prom in Lyons, Georgia, in 2010 Photograph: Gillian Laub / Courtesy Benrubi Gallery

I photographed the segregated proms of 2009, and when the photos were published a lot of the white families resented me because I was exposing what felt like a dirty secret. When I came back, I had to go in front of parents and school administrators to explain and ask permission to photograph the first integrated prom. I really begged them and said, ‘Look, I’m here to tell the good story. People didn’t respond well to seeing your segregated proms, but I want to tell the story of hope and transition in your community.’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Quanti Jorden and Kayla Miller, the prom prince and princess, share a dance at the integrated prom in 2011. Photograph: Gillian Laub / Courtesy Benrubi Gallery

I fell in love with the teenagers of Montgomery. I could tell that the mixed friendships were very real. So on one hand [Montgomery County] felt like such an integrated community because of the kids, but on the other hand it felt like [the teenagers] had their hands tied because of parents who didn’t want to see interracial relationships. Kayla and Quanti have been friends since kindergarten. They wanted to have an integrated prom – and that’s why it was so shocking to me, that parents were trying so hard to keep these kids separated.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Students dancing at ‘black prom’, where white students can also attend, in Vidalia, Georgia in 2009. Black students were not allowed to go to ‘white prom’. Photograph: Gillian Laub / Courtesy Benrubi Gallery

Skyla is in the red dress. Her boyfriend Barry is black. She couldn’t take him to the white prom on Friday night but she went with him to the black prom on Saturday night. She was hurt that Barry couldn’t come to her prom, but she was very welcome at the black prom. I was amazed by her because she wasn’t as upset as I thought she would be. There’s always a mixed couple or two every year. The white boy or girl can always go to the black prom, but unfortunately it wasn’t reciprocated when it came to the white prom. The Mexican students were able to attend both.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The first interracial couple to attend an integrated prom. Photograph: Gillian Laub / Courtesy Benrubi Gallery

There are a lot of parents that were open [to interracial relationships], but the parents that were not seemed to be the people who had the most power and control in the town.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Angel Howard before ‘black prom’: ‘We can’t fix prom until we fix the school. When the school comes together no longer sees color, then the prom can come together and no longer see color’ Photograph: Gillian Laub / Courtesy Benrubi Gallery

Angel’s father was the vice-principal of the middle school. She was scared to speak out [about segregation] because she didn’t want to jeopardize his job. She was also worried she wouldn’t graduate if she talked to me, so she made me promise that [my story in the New York Times Magazine] wouldn’t be published until after she graduated. That’s how serious this was. She really didn’t think she would graduate if she talked to me. I was with her the night when she and her friend went to take pictures of their friends at the white prom – and they were asked to leave. A door slammed in her face. It was devastating.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Students come together on the dance floor of 2011’s integrated prom. Photograph: Gillian Laub / Courtesy Benrubi Gallery

I loved the dresses. I loved the colors. I loved how most of the couples were color coordinated. There was such effort and care put into every detail. Dressing for prom is a means of expression and I don’t think kids should be restricted from it. Visually it was eye candy for me. That’s the thing about the segregation of the proms that’s so upsetting – prom is the biggest thing for these kids. People are planning for prom and investing in their dresses and suits for months. So the fact that such an important and poignant night in their life, a real milestone, is marred with such discrimination was so sad to me.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Keyke and Terrance at ‘black prom’ in Mount Vernon, Georgia in 2008. Photograph: Gillian Laub / Courtesy Benrubi Gallery

Gillian Laub’s photographs from Montgomery are currently on display at the Benrubi gallery in New York City. They will also be published in a forthcoming book, Southern Rites, in June 2015.