Instead of trying to describe The Oxford project, I will let the authors tell you about it:
"In 1984, photographer Peter Feldstein set out to photograph every single resident of his town, Oxford, Iowa (pop. 676). He converted an abandoned storefront on Main Street into a makeshift studio and posted fliers inviting people to stop by. At first they trickled in slowly, but in the end, nearly all of Oxford stood before Feldstein’s lens. Twenty years later, Feldstein decided to do it again. He invited writer Stephen G. Bloom to join him, and together they went in search of the Oxford residents Feldstein originally shot in 1984. Some had moved. Most had stayed. Others had passed away. All were marked by the passage of time. This time, they didn’t just pose, they talked—about their lives over the past two decades—about children lost and loves finally found; about living with illness and the wounds of war; about small town values and the promise of an afterlife; about making ends meet and wishing for more; about dreams unfulfilled and simple daily pleasures."
This book is fascinating. I have always loved projects where people are photographed over long periods of time in the same setting, it's such a memorable way to mark the passage of time. But this book was deep on so many levels. Anyone who has grown up in a small town and left will immediately be able to relate to some stories. Those who have never lived in a small town will be stunned by the "everybody knows everybody" town dynamic. It is essentially a portrait of Small Town, USA. The first time I flipped through this book was about a week before the Presidential election and Iowa was a swing state. After reading the story about a kid, who despite being born in the 80's and a current college student said he had, "never spoken to a black person in his life and didn't plan to" because they "can't be trusted", I thought how in the world can Obama become president when the heartland of our country is still producing ideas like this. I was really taken aback and I left feeling discouraged. These stories haunted me. After the election, I thought about these Oxford residents again and I couldn't help but wonder how they were feeling at that moment. I didn't celebrate at all, I was honestly afraid for them. How do you live a full life in an ever changing world that you are just not ready for. I wondered if their Small Town will become their prison, or whether they would fight to change their town or whether like many, many before them - they will just leave.
Only time will tell, but I encourage you to at least track this book down and spend some time reading these stories, both in their words and all over their faces.
"In 1984, photographer Peter Feldstein set out to photograph every single resident of his town, Oxford, Iowa (pop. 676). He converted an abandoned storefront on Main Street into a makeshift studio and posted fliers inviting people to stop by. At first they trickled in slowly, but in the end, nearly all of Oxford stood before Feldstein’s lens. Twenty years later, Feldstein decided to do it again. He invited writer Stephen G. Bloom to join him, and together they went in search of the Oxford residents Feldstein originally shot in 1984. Some had moved. Most had stayed. Others had passed away. All were marked by the passage of time. This time, they didn’t just pose, they talked—about their lives over the past two decades—about children lost and loves finally found; about living with illness and the wounds of war; about small town values and the promise of an afterlife; about making ends meet and wishing for more; about dreams unfulfilled and simple daily pleasures."
This book is fascinating. I have always loved projects where people are photographed over long periods of time in the same setting, it's such a memorable way to mark the passage of time. But this book was deep on so many levels. Anyone who has grown up in a small town and left will immediately be able to relate to some stories. Those who have never lived in a small town will be stunned by the "everybody knows everybody" town dynamic. It is essentially a portrait of Small Town, USA. The first time I flipped through this book was about a week before the Presidential election and Iowa was a swing state. After reading the story about a kid, who despite being born in the 80's and a current college student said he had, "never spoken to a black person in his life and didn't plan to" because they "can't be trusted", I thought how in the world can Obama become president when the heartland of our country is still producing ideas like this. I was really taken aback and I left feeling discouraged. These stories haunted me. After the election, I thought about these Oxford residents again and I couldn't help but wonder how they were feeling at that moment. I didn't celebrate at all, I was honestly afraid for them. How do you live a full life in an ever changing world that you are just not ready for. I wondered if their Small Town will become their prison, or whether they would fight to change their town or whether like many, many before them - they will just leave.
Only time will tell, but I encourage you to at least track this book down and spend some time reading these stories, both in their words and all over their faces.
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