In 1984 Peter Feldstein photographed 670 of the 676 residents of Oxford, Iowa. Twenty-one years later, he returned to re-photograph the 670 original participants, bringing Stephen G. Bloom to interview each person. Though some people had died and some had moved away, Peter was able to photograph and interview large number of the original participants. The result is a beautiful portrait of a small American town. From the artist's website:
Some chose to talk about religion. Others spoke about relationships gone bad. More than a few talked about spouses' infidelities. Several broke down in tears. A few waxed about first girlfriends and boyfriends.
Some of their words came out slowly, others came out in jags and torrents. The language of more than several was pure poetry. Stephen and Peter came to realize that the project had a purpose. They had become confessors to an undiscovered America.
Peter and Stephen put together 100 of these portraits and oral histories in a book titled "The Oxford Project", which is available here.
what a great find!
ReplyDeletewow, this is incredible. hope you don't mind if i post about it on my blog, too! (with credit to you for finding it, of course!) :)
ReplyDeletehi jess - not at all! glad you like it...
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