Below The Line, Living Poor in America by Eugene Richards
May 12th 2008 09:11
In 144 stunning black-and-white photographs (which won the 1987 International Center of Photography Journalism Award for ``outstanding accomplishment in photographic reportage'') and 14 first-person narratives, this disturbing book demonstrates the pervasiveness of poverty in America. The starkly eloquent text, edited by Bird, conveys the bravery and pathos of the subjects' lives in their own words. For example, readers learn that a Tennessee man has to pull his own teeth because he can't afford a dentist and that migrant workers who pick vegetables are often brutalized. Help for the poor didn't come until How the Other Half Lives (1901) shocked the public a few generations ago; one hopes that this book will have the same effect (net sourced)
A couple of people have emailed me recently enquiring about the book that I have mentioned on my photography website, so in response to their questions, I decided on this post.
Every so often a book will come along that has a deep impact upon your life,thoughts and direction, with Below the Line being one of them.
I picked up the book from a 2nd hand dealer as I found the black and white photographs fascinating, but it was as I read the stories behind the almost haunting images that really struck a cord with me, some of these people are just good old honest god fearing people at the end of their wits through no fault of their own and how could you not be moved by their honesty, vunerability and above all, their plight?
Friends and colleagues often say to me 'Wow you are so motivated, always trying different stuff etc, how do you do it?' Well it's books like this that drive that strong motivation within me, to try and work myself into a position that will enable me to make a difference, somewhere, somehow.
Shall leave you with thought for the day 'Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed'
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Heath
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