Assistant Professor of Art; Area of Photography
William Major is a photographer and community art practitioner from Northeast Tennessee whose work explores the hidden, overlooked, and often obscured aspects of southern life. His projects range from examining masculine intimacy and performance in professional wrestling to tracing intersections of worship, ideology, and the built environment. Through both his creative and community-based work—including collaborations with incarcerated people using photovoice and critical pedagogy—Major emphasizes that southern culture is not a singular place, but a complex constellation of cultures, histories, and material conditions.
Major earned his M.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of Georgia in 2019. He currently lives and works in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he serves as Assistant Professor of Art at McNeese State University in the photography concentration. At McNeese he serves as co-chair for the Student Art Association and participates in the C.A.R.E Mentorship Program.
At McNeese, Major has taught: