Happy West Virginia Day, y’all. On this day in 1863, West Virginia was admitted to the Union after seceding from Virginia during the Civil War. For those who celebrate, whether you’re at home in the state or elsewhere about the globe, I hope you do something that reminds you of home and that shines a little light on West Virginia. And I hope you eat a pepperoni roll.
I found the image above while looking through my archive and it stopped me in my tracks; not because it’s the best picture I’ve made or even my favorite photograph that I’ve ever made. It stopped me because I could feel the picture, or more accurately, it made me feel. Isn’t that what we hope a good photograph or painting or line of poetry does? There’s the structure of the bodies engaged in conversation. There is a familiarity not just between the woman and man, but with their body language, with their posture, and with the space they hold.
Finding this picture again felt like reconnecting with an old friend, one that I go months without talking to and then pick up the phone and talk like we just saw each other yesterday. It’s filled with good light and shadows, but also repetition of lines and angles. More than that for me, I feel like I know these folks. There’s a real sense of nearness, of being present, and being seen.
I love this picture. And I love having found this picture again. I love it so much that I made it the landing image on my website (and because I’ve been working on some updates on the site, which needed a refresh).
Have you rediscovered pictures you’ve made and developed a new relationship with them?
I’ve been thinking a lot about photobooks lately and the space they hold. As I’m making new work and thinking about how I’d like to see the work in book form someday, I’ve been revisiting photobooks that have helped shape my thinking about how books can work in the world.
Susan Lipper’s 1994 monograph, Grapevine, was a seminal photobook in my development both as a photographer and as someone who is passionate about photobooks. Long out of print, this much sought after book is what Lipper noted was her “journal” while photographing southern West Virginia in the late 1980s.
I had the good fortune of meeting Susan several years ago and she signed my copy of Grapevine. It reads, “For Roger, I know you have been here.” Just last year, I borrowed this to title a new exhibit at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky.
If you can find a copy of this book, don’t pass it up. I also recommend her books trip and Domesticated Land.
What photobooks have influenced you?
I’m still reading Irene McKinney’s Unthinkable: Selected Poems 1976-2004.
I listened to Jason Reynolds talk with NPR Wild Card’s Rachel Martin.
I watched Countless Miles of Photographs with Robert Adams.
Thanks for reading my newsletter. As you might imagine, it takes time and resources to write, edit, and publish this. Please consider supporting my work however is best possible for you. That could mean sharing it with someone and suggesting they subscribe. That could mean if you’re not a subscriber, becoming one. And while I will always make this newsletter free, your support by being a paid subscriber sure helps!
You can see more of my work at my website and follow me on Instagram.
Montani Semper Liberi.
Roger
A photo from my hometown of Princeton. They are working very hard to revitalize downtown and great progress has been made. That street, like most downtown southern WV streets were once bustling with activity. Businesses flourished in the 1970s, then Walmart came to town and when flooding was alleviated along Stafford Drive and the strip centers became a thing. My heart hurts when I go home and drive that street remembering how it used to be.