The Oxford Project
June 6, 2006 8:20 PM Subscribe
The Oxford Project: in 1984, Peter Feldstein photographed every single citizen in the town of Oxford, Iowa (676 pictures in all). In 2006, he attempts to do it again.
that's awesome. the stories behind the photos really bring some life to the photos. a greats series of "biopics" of smalltown America.
posted by jne1813 at 8:32 PM on June 6, 2006
posted by jne1813 at 8:32 PM on June 6, 2006
The stories are definitely worth reading. Can you match the picture with these biographies, ranging from the bizarre, to the mundane, to the fantastic.
Answers: Who got a surprise visit from Ashton and Demi? Who retired from teaching high-school typing? Who enjoys cutting the eyes out of animal carcasses and rolling them around in his mouth?
posted by imposster at 8:50 PM on June 6, 2006
Answers: Who got a surprise visit from Ashton and Demi? Who retired from teaching high-school typing? Who enjoys cutting the eyes out of animal carcasses and rolling them around in his mouth?
posted by imposster at 8:50 PM on June 6, 2006
Everyone sure does look like they're from Iowa.
I'm sure if you visted any town with a population of 600 or so they'd look about like that.
posted by delmoi at 9:21 PM on June 6, 2006
I'm sure if you visted any town with a population of 600 or so they'd look about like that.
posted by delmoi at 9:21 PM on June 6, 2006
Everyone sure does look like they're from Iowa.
/me rolls eyes.
eyeball guy is great. after bragging about guttin' and cutin', he comes out with this:
The invasion of Iraq was very foolish. We never should've gone there. A just war is one thing, but this war isn't just. Bush isn't honest. He's an idiot and a coward.
there's hope for america.
posted by 3.2.3 at 9:37 PM on June 6, 2006
/me rolls eyes.
eyeball guy is great. after bragging about guttin' and cutin', he comes out with this:
The invasion of Iraq was very foolish. We never should've gone there. A just war is one thing, but this war isn't just. Bush isn't honest. He's an idiot and a coward.
there's hope for america.
posted by 3.2.3 at 9:37 PM on June 6, 2006
It's moving reading about their lives, seeing their pictures over two+ decades, something profound there in the passage of time and also so ordinary. I think of the "nothing and everything" of an old Bukowski poem, Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks, And You. It reminds me of the stories/poems of the people buried in the cemetary in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology. Or Thornton Wilder's Our Town.
posted by nickyskye at 9:51 PM on June 6, 2006
posted by nickyskye at 9:51 PM on June 6, 2006
I wish more profiles were available. Not all of these folks are so easily categorized or dismissed. A couple of quotes:
"[Before Buchenwald,] Des Moines had been the furthest I'd ever been from home. I have post-traumatic-stress syndrome. I still have horrific dreams.... My oldest son, who was awarded the Purple Heart for service in Vietnam, suffers from the same thing."
"I have neuropathy. It's like a real bad case of arthritis. I try to get by with a cane, but it's not easy. Tomorrow we're going to Wal-Mart to talk to an insurance man about the new Medicare drug plans. I hope we'll get some answers.... Two of our sons were wounded in Vietnam. One had his femur shot off , the other was shot in the shoulder. If my boys were of draft age today, we'd leave and move to Canada."
posted by rob511 at 11:25 PM on June 6, 2006
"[Before Buchenwald,] Des Moines had been the furthest I'd ever been from home. I have post-traumatic-stress syndrome. I still have horrific dreams.... My oldest son, who was awarded the Purple Heart for service in Vietnam, suffers from the same thing."
"I have neuropathy. It's like a real bad case of arthritis. I try to get by with a cane, but it's not easy. Tomorrow we're going to Wal-Mart to talk to an insurance man about the new Medicare drug plans. I hope we'll get some answers.... Two of our sons were wounded in Vietnam. One had his femur shot off , the other was shot in the shoulder. If my boys were of draft age today, we'd leave and move to Canada."
posted by rob511 at 11:25 PM on June 6, 2006
I think it might be interesting and a really good experience to go live in a town like that for a couple weeks. See a diffrent way of life... i think I would enjoy it.
posted by crewshell at 11:41 PM on June 6, 2006
posted by crewshell at 11:41 PM on June 6, 2006
there's hope for america.
...
I wish more profiles were available. Not all of these folks are so easily categorized or dismissed. A couple of quotes:
It's in Jonston country, which went for Kerry by like 80% or something.
In fact, it's only about five minutes away from Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, and tons of Liberals. You're about as likely to run into a conservative there as in NYC.
posted by delmoi at 11:59 PM on June 6, 2006
...
I wish more profiles were available. Not all of these folks are so easily categorized or dismissed. A couple of quotes:
It's in Jonston country, which went for Kerry by like 80% or something.
In fact, it's only about five minutes away from Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, and tons of Liberals. You're about as likely to run into a conservative there as in NYC.
posted by delmoi at 11:59 PM on June 6, 2006
It's in Jonston country, which went for Kerry by like 80% or something.
That's Johnson county, actually. I've lived in Iowa City for 18 years, and strangely enough, have never bothered to make the trip to Oxford (it's more like 15 minutes away). I can go 15 minutes in another direction to see Mennonite horses and buggies, and 15 minutes in another direction to get the world's biggest pork tenderloin, but I haven't found the draw to Oxford, yet. Now, I might just go.
It's funny to hear different peoples' perspectives on Iowa - I've read countless books and articles which claim that Iowa is a Conservative / Republican stronghold, which just isn't true. The State has definitely slipped a bit into the red since 2001, but it's still one of the most politically moderate places in the US. Johnson county accounts for a big chunk of the lefties, though.
posted by rockabilly_pete at 12:25 AM on June 7, 2006
That's Johnson county, actually. I've lived in Iowa City for 18 years, and strangely enough, have never bothered to make the trip to Oxford (it's more like 15 minutes away). I can go 15 minutes in another direction to see Mennonite horses and buggies, and 15 minutes in another direction to get the world's biggest pork tenderloin, but I haven't found the draw to Oxford, yet. Now, I might just go.
It's funny to hear different peoples' perspectives on Iowa - I've read countless books and articles which claim that Iowa is a Conservative / Republican stronghold, which just isn't true. The State has definitely slipped a bit into the red since 2001, but it's still one of the most politically moderate places in the US. Johnson county accounts for a big chunk of the lefties, though.
posted by rockabilly_pete at 12:25 AM on June 7, 2006
Johnson county accounts for a big chunk of the lefties, though.
I can see that. What a bunch of hippies!
posted by maryh at 1:20 AM on June 7, 2006
I can see that. What a bunch of hippies!
posted by maryh at 1:20 AM on June 7, 2006
I love the project, but I'm disapointed at the lighting. The first photos are just lit from two sides (equally?), while the second are rather low contrast. Could not find a location with slightly more interesting lighting? It would have made the otherwise fascinating portraits jump out a bit more.
posted by jb at 1:28 AM on June 7, 2006
posted by jb at 1:28 AM on June 7, 2006
Brilliant.
posted by NinjaTadpole at 1:57 AM on June 7, 2006
posted by NinjaTadpole at 1:57 AM on June 7, 2006
Very cool, although I wish there were more profiles. The book, I'd guess, will be a beautiful, but really expensive, coffee table affair.
posted by TheDonF at 4:27 AM on June 7, 2006
posted by TheDonF at 4:27 AM on June 7, 2006
It's stuff like this that makes me wish I could live my life over and over in different places.
posted by jon_kill at 7:35 AM on June 7, 2006
posted by jon_kill at 7:35 AM on June 7, 2006
Very nice. The stories are consistently good and surprising. The Ashton/Demi one was great.
posted by OmieWise at 8:03 AM on June 7, 2006
posted by OmieWise at 8:03 AM on June 7, 2006
Spoon River is my most favorite collection of poems! I'm so glad someone else thought of that looking at these pictures.
posted by FunkyHelix at 8:04 AM on June 7, 2006
posted by FunkyHelix at 8:04 AM on June 7, 2006
I heard these guys on NPR this weekend; their interview is here.
posted by TedW at 10:10 AM on June 7, 2006
posted by TedW at 10:10 AM on June 7, 2006
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