I don’t know what kind of desk you keep, but I try to keep mine pretty organized. Clutter-free as it were. What usually ends up happening are organized stacks of chaos. Amidst that chaos, I’ve kept a stack of photobooks on my desk for the better part of year. These are books I’ve turned to for inspiration, reflection, and investigation all the while telling myself that I’d write about them at some point.
So here I am writing about them, albeit briefly. These are just sketches and notes along with a quote from each book or artist’s site that I found personally significant. I’ll write about each of these more in-depth at a future time but for now...
At the top of the stack has been Raymond Thompson Jr.’s Appalachian Ghost: A Photographic Reimagining of the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster. I recently wrote a brief review of this for West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studies, to be published later this year. I’ll share the review here once it’s been published.
“In America, the contribution and impact of Blackness on American culture has been enshrouded by a purposeful forgetting. This exclusion has left many people who exist outside of the dominant racial categories with no connection to the land they walk every day, and without this connection to place, we become orphans in our own land.” - Raymond Thompson Jr.
Website: Raymond Thompson Jr.
Appalachian Ghost: A Photographic Reimagining of the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster, University Press of Kentucky, 136 pages, 8.5”x10”, March 2024.
Buy the book here.
Nearly 10 years ago, I wrote this for the NYT LENS blog (pour a little out) about this incredible documentary project from Kentucky in the late 1970s. Reader, I can promise you I have a lot to say about this work, how it came it me, and where I hope it goes.
"Dear, this is Bill Burke 'n he's travelin all over the United States with the Bacentennial 'n 40 counties in six months with a three legged stand 'n the television with a magazine n he's a fine fella n we got that '47 Ford down at the junk yard 'n Bill's been down there n he's been making my pitcher 'n now were going up to my barn full of cars in Glencoe 'n over there to the house to see my antique rafle collection 'n we're just havin' a helluva time." - a note from Bill Burke.
Website: Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project
*This book is not currently available for purchase. This is a reviewers copy printed via Blurb sent to me by Ted Wathen and Bob Hower.
Stacy Kranitz’s As it Was Give(n) To Me is, in a word, stunning. If you’re reading this, you’re likely familiar with her work and if you’re not, I hope you will be. Kranitz’s work complicates the visual narrative of Appalachia that many, including myself at times, have found challenging. And that’s what good, important work should do at a minimum - challenge the viewer. And it’s just a beautifully designed and printed book.
“This work does not attempt to illustrate a certain type of injustice in the hope of remedying it. Instead, I have come to Appalachia to open up a new kind of narrative, one that examines our understanding of culture and place in a manner that is poised between notions of right and wrong.” - Stacy Kranitz.
Website: Stacy Kranitz
As it Was Give(n) To Me, Twin Palms Publishers, 304 pages, 9”x11.5”, May 2022.
Buy the book here.
Julie Rae Powers’ first monograph, Deep Ruts, is a knockout. It’s heft, size, and content are heavy in all the ways. Deeply personal and visually arresting, this work is timely, important, and about as vulnerable as it comes.
“I wonder then how Appalachia will come down on us.” - Kelsey Sucena, from the essay Phillips Creek.
Website: Julie Rae Powers
Deep Ruts, Platanus Editions, 250 pages, 11.5”x11.5”, Spring 2024.
Buy the book here.
Last, but certainly not least, is Emmet Gowin. Published in 2013 by Aperture and FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE (Madrid), this is probably one of my favorite photobooks. There is just simply so much here. If you have this book, you know what I mean. If you don’t have this book, you should have this book.
“And, finally, this is what I need to say to you. There are things in your life that only you will see, stories that only you will hear. If you don't tell them or write them down, if you don't make the picture, these things will not be seen, these things will not be heard.” - Emmet Gowin.
Website: Aperture Books
Emmet Gowin, Aperture and FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE (Madrid), 240 pages, 9.8”x11.3”, October 2013.
*Out of stock but you can find used copies of this book online.
What do you keep on your desk or find yourself turning to for inspiration? Thanks for reading and subscribing!
Roger
Many genealogy books live on my desk
I've been keeping a stack of Gabriel García Márquez on my desk and a few art books.