My bio
I attended Ohio University after serving in the military. It didn't take me long to realize that I was not a part of the college scene, or maybe a better way to put it, I was more a part of the local scene. I really connected with the “townies”. It was late in my senior year around 1972, during evenings and weekends, when I travelled the countryside in my VW van, exploring the little towns that were situated all over this sleepy corner of the state. Most of the towns were very poor, and still very dependant on the coal industry, the biggest employer there. Even then, the coal industry and the opportunities it had for local people, were fading away. Different ways of extracting coal from the ground, consolidation of the business and the slow but inevitable demonization of coal was putting agonizing strain on the locals.
I travelled to the little towns of Murray City, Nelsonville and many others I can't remember. Actually my first date with my future wife Jan, took place on one of these journeys. There were always interesting people and things to photograph. At first, people were very standoffish. But as I visited more and more of these communities on multiple occasions, I became known and accepted. I gained access to their homes and businesses. The images are from that access that I earned.
Over thirty years past before I began explore these images and memories.
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