SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Deann Servos knew each of the four, obscured Baldwin County faces recounting their personal experiences with hunger.

But seeing the surreal images displayed in San Antonio’s Witte Museum while masterfully crafted audio condensed often two days of storytelling into concise, first-person companion narratives struck a chord that surprised even the executive director of the Spanish Fort-based emergency food and referral hub that has helped each of the exhibit’s Alabama participants at some point during their struggles.

 “It was powerful, emotional and moving. It truly explored the many faces of hunger,” said Servos as she crossed the Alabama state line Monday, traveling back from the gallery opening she said left her speechless at times. She was joined on the multi-state trek by her husband, Mark; Pantry board member Judy Riley and her husband, Chris; and Pantry chairwoman Karen Dotson.

And while she had hoped to arrange a local showing in March to showcase the more than four dozen stories from across the country, Servos said national demand for the show and the need for expanded space will push those plans to fall when the Eastern Shore Art Center in Fairhope will be available.

Michael Nye, the San Antonio artist behind the traveling national documentary exhibit, told Servos the Baldwin County stories the pantry helped facilitate were among the strongest of the show’s 50 voices because each exemplified the “real people” he was attempting to depict in the rawest medium possible: their own words.

“Hearing that, I really feel like the pantry is meeting its mission of HOPE, or Helping Ordinary People Everyday,” said Servos.

Nye, who began his professional career as a lawyer, turned to fine-arts photography as a means of raising awareness about social issues and has completed traveling national gallery showings on both teenage pregnancy and mental illness before tackling hunger.

“About Hunger,” he said, represents more than four years of painstaking interviews and editing designed to drill down to the root influences driving hunger rolls up among people from all walks of life. In a world where job loss, catastrophic illness, natural disasters, domestic violence, substance abuse and mental illness can change the course of an individual’s life in an instant, Nye said it is only by asking the simple question, “Have you ever been hungry?” that a true public dialogue on hunger and its myriad causes can reach the level of awareness necessary to invite solutions.

“This isn’t about suffering or poverty, but what can we learn about the complexity of hunger?” Nye said in July when he spent several days at Prodisee Pantry, finding new stories to tell and following up on subjects interviewed more than one year earlier.

The artist, who often spends two to three days with participants willing to share their personal stories, said he whittles as many as 10 hours of interviews down to as few as five minutes of commentary to offer a poignant snapshot of one person’s experience. He then takes their portraits with a Civil War-era camera, and visitors to the exhibit can wear headphones and hear first-hand accounts of the underlying reasons for and personal battles in overcoming hunger.

Nye said he is inspired by the work conducted at Prodisee Pantry, but it was Servos’ “remarkable enthusiasm and depth of care” that helped him realize quickly he’d stumbled upon a unique operation.

“They have grown this ministry $10 by $10, and that makes them a real success story,” he said. “The people who come (to the pantry) for assistance don’t just feel like they’re being fed. They feel like they’re being listened to and like they’re cared about, and that’s really saying something. There are hundreds and hundreds of extremely caring and innovative operations nationwide, but Prodisee Pantry is definitely one among the ranks of Feeding America and Second Harvest.”

Although three-quarters of the pantry’s patrons reside in north or central Baldwin County or along the Eastern Shore, Servos said the ministry serves the entire county and acts as a de facto referral agency that can redirect patrons to similar operations further south.

They can also refer to countywide agencies for assistance with utilities, rent, abuse shelters and substance abuse, to name a few.