false 3860953 1 In 1984, photographer Peter Feldstein set out to photograph every single resident of his town, Oxford, Iowa (pop. 676). He converted an abandoned storefront on Main Street into a makeshift studio and posted fliers inviting people to stop by. At first they trickled in slowly, but in the end, nearly all of Oxford stood before Feldstein's lens. Twenty years later, Feldstein decided to do it again. Only this time he invited writer Stephen G. Bloom to join him, and together they went in search of the same Oxford residents Feldstein had originally shot two decades earlier. Some had moved. Most had stayed. Others had passed away. All were marked by the passage of time.<br><br>In a place like Oxford, not only does everyone know everyone else, but also everyone else's brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, lovers, secrets, failures, dreams, and favorite pot luck recipes. This intricate web of human connections between neighbors friends, and family, is the mainstay of small town American life, a disappearing culture that is unforgettably captured in Feldstein's candid black-and-white portraiture and Bloom's astonishing rural storytelling.<br><br>Meet the town auctioneer who fell in love with his wife in high school while ice-skating together on local ponds; his wife who recalls the dress she wore as his prom date over fifty years ago; a retired buck skinner who started a gospel church and awaits the rapture in 2028; the donut baker at the Depot who went from having to be weighed on a livestock scale to losing over 150 pounds with the support of all of Oxford; a twenty-one-year-old man photographed in 1984 as an infant in his father's arms, who has now survived both of his parents due to tragedy and illness.<br><br>Considered side-by-side, the portraits reveal the inevitable transformations of aging: wider waistlines, wrinkled skin, eyeglasses, and bowed backs. Babies and children have instantly sprouted into young nurses, truck drivers, teachers, and rodeo riders, become Buddhists, racists, democrats, and drug addicts. The courses of lives have been irrevocably altered by deaths, births, marriages, and divorces. Some have lost God--others have found Him. But there are also those for whom it appears time has almost stood still. Kevin Somerville looks eerily identical in his 1984 and 2004 portraits, right down to his worn overalls, shaggy mane, and pale sunglasses. Only the graying of his lumberjack beard gives away the years that have passed. <br><br>Face after face, story after story, what quietly emerges is a living composite of a quintessential Midwestern community, told through the words and images of its residents--then and now. In a town where newcomers are recognized by the sound of an<br>unfamiliar engine idle, The Oxford Project invites you to discover the unexpected details, the heartbreak, and the reality of lives lived on the fringe of our urban culture. 3906099 16 9 2008 The Oxford Project total:165|5:75|4:73|3:16|2:1|1:0| 165 717 393 83 5 1 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 20:37:48 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 12:58:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 17 07:27:55 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 12 17:21:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Apr 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 07 11:53:47 -0800 2009 Sat Apr 04 07:53:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Feb 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 13:45:04 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 11:25:29 -0800 2009 I used to visit Oxford when I lived with my friend Angie at the Kent Park campground and thought it was a really ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Oct 13 08:03:29 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 13 08:07:54 -0700 2008
So now, twenty-five years later, same guy goes back to same town, to locate as many of th...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Dec 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 09:10:55 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 06:23:09 -0800 2008
Glad I don't live there though. As one might expect, ignorance ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 18:14:31 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 18:16:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed May 20 22:18:06 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 06:06:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Apr 19 09:00:58 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 09:00:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Sep 30 12:46:01 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 12:46:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 07:24:31 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 20:48:08 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Dec 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 14:42:12 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 15:22:44 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Dec 18 07:59:47 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 08:02:18 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 08:28:54 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 08:28:54 -0800 2009 http://ps1.org/exhibitions/view/83
and some more:
http://zoltanjokay.de/zoltanblog/2007/12...

...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 21:59:34 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 21:54:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Oct 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 21 13:05:58 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 21 13:05:58 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Mon Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 12:33:08 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 12:33:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Feb 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 20:18:11 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 20:09:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Dec 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 19:35:47 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 19:43:18 -0800 2008 This is a series of photos taken in 1984 of every person living in the small town of Oxford, Iowa. Their pictures were taken again in 2008. Some of...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 10:11:27 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 10:16:37 -0800 2009 However, as interesting as the photographs, are the so...more...]]>