Lining the walls of the Greenville High School Resource Center, nestled in among the rows of books and computers, is an eclectic assortment of photographs of national and international landmarks and portraits of everyday people.

The collection, called &uot;Starr Smith’s World,&uot; is on loan to the high school as part of an exhibit tour sponsored by the Alabama Education Association.

Smith was a widely acclaimed travel columnist for the Montgomery Advertiser in the 1980s. He also was a highly acclaimed journalist, author and photographer.

His collection of photographs was donated to the Alabama Retired Teachers Foundation in 1998, and has been on tour throughout the Southeast to give area students a chance to see Starr’s special view of the world.

The collection is a compilation of photographs of landmarks and people, taken in more than 100 countries and all 50 states.

The exhibit features photographs of the Taj Mahal, Turkey’s Blue Mosque, Argentina’s Iquazu Falls and the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., to name a few.

The collection of 100 photographs has been split into two 50-portrait collections, to allow more schools access to them.

&uot;This a great opportunity for our students,&uot; GHS history instructor Billie Faulk said. &uot;With all of the budget cuts the school system has been subjected to, it has become increasingly difficult to take students on field trips. With this collection on tour, we can essentially bring the museum to the students.&uot;

Faulk said that she will incorporate a tour of the collection into her classroom instruction time so the students can appreciate them.

&uot;These are incredible pictures,&uot; Faulk said. &uot;It’s a great way for the students to see many places and things that they haven’t been exposed to before. Also, when you teach about the Taj Mahal or the Great Wall of China, it doesn’t have the same impact as seeing these great photographs of them.&uot;

Faulk said that the collection can inspire the students because they were taken by someone who lived in worked in our area.

&uot;It lets them see what possibilities there are if they want to apply themselves,&uot; she said.