Review

A review of Peter Feldstein's The Oxford Project

Installation view of part of "The Oxford Project" as shown at the Belger Arts Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The project has been made into a book and includes photographs by Peter Feldstein and text by Stephen G. Bloom, based on interviews with the photographed subjects — almost every single resident of Oxford, Iowa. The project has sparked lectures, dramatic readings and exhibitions. The exhibition at the Belger included 25 diptychs and their accompanying texts. Photo: T. Abeln

The Belger Arts Center
Kansas City, Missouri
October 2 — December 31, 2009

Intentionally photographing the inhabitants of an entire town is a dream few photographers set out to do — let alone do twice, with two decades between photo shoots. The Oxford Project is a massive collection of photographs, not only of Oxford, Iowa, residents, but also of their personal stories and experiences in small-town America; it portrays a community hopeful and honest, its residents living their lives as best they can.

The first set of portraits was taken in 1984, and the second followed in the years 2005 to 2007. In The Oxford Project, Peter Feldstein has woven the threads of Oxford life into a window through which we see private and intimate details of his friends and neighbors. Through photographs and personal biographies, he has created an opportunity for the rest of us to become eyewitnesses to the exciting, absurd, mundane, optimistic, and on-going life of one small Midwestern town.

Starting in 1984 with funds from the Iowa Arts Council and his own money, Feldstein set up a 4x5 Speed Graphic camera (wherein the negative is 4 inches wide by 5 inches tall) and offered the 676 residents of Oxford free portraits. Using Kodak Tri-X 320 (4"x5") film, Feldstein captured the images of 670 people. Each portrait was allowed only “one sheet per person,” Feldstein stated in a conversation about the photographic process.

Installation view of Peter Feldstein's portraits of Vince Grabin, from 1984 and 2005, with biographical text. Photo: T. Abeln

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Peter Feldstein, installation view detail of portrait of Vince Grabin in 2007. From his interview: "I haven't really thought about death. My wife and I have a stone with our names on it. You think you're going to live forever. But I know it's coming. We die, they bury us, and basically that's the end of it. I don't know enough to have any regrets. I always wear a hat. I don't go out without one. Sometimes I splash on a little Old Spice. I always carry a pocketknife, a pen and paper, and pliers. You never know when you're going to need pliers." Photo: T. Abeln

After observing the before and after images, I found myself curious as to what Feldstein used to create the interesting double shadows cast from the subjects — it was consistent in each and every 1984 portrait. Apparently he used hot lights in those portraits, two quartz lights. About his lighting technique, he said, "I needed as much light as I could get from them, so I pointed them straight at the subjects. This is lighting that would make a professional portrait photographer wretch, but the way I displayed (the photographs) the first time, I (arranged) them in a grid of nine across and five down. The cross shadows connected in interesting ways in that printing.” The effect is gritty and raw — no vignetting or soft focus here, just honest portraits of real people. The hard light and high contrast of the 1984 photos are the perfect compliment to the softer, more even tones of the images from 2005 to 2007.

Peter Feldstein, portraits of Brianne Leckness (née Bobby Jo Kirkwood, left) in 1984 and 2007. Images: courtesy of the artist

Experiencing The Oxford Project at The Belger Art Center was awe-inspiring. With gallery assistant, Mo Dickens’s clever arrangement of the triptych panels, consisting of two large photographs separated by autobiographical musings (and under perfect gallery lighting), it was intimate and insightful. Ducking in and out of bright lights and dark spaces, the photos popped, and one could clearly see the formal contrasts between them in each pair. As previously mentioned, the second set of portraits is not harsh or grainy. On the contrary, the only thing similar to their photographic 1984 counterparts (aside from their size) is the aged subject — some 20 years later. In some cases, the subject looks nothing like he or she did before; brand-new babies have become adults. In other photographs, the subjects who were once standing tall and proud have become hunched over with time. Feldstein used a Canon D5 for the later portraits, and not only have the subjects matured with age, so has the photographer. The personality of the 1984 photographs are very much in-your-face, while the mature portraits are quieter and more subdued.

Peter Feldstein, portraits of John Honn in 1984 and 2005. Images: courtesy of the artist

Whether using sheet film or digital images, Feldstein never posed the Oxford residents. Amazingly, some people stood for the camera a second time with the same cocked-to-the-left head or hunched shoulder-stance as before. Many positioned themselves with feet apart, others rested with feet together, but in many cases, some unique similar behavior seemed to show itself in both portraits. Some things do not change.

The biographies were recorded after the second portrait session, and Feldstein asked each person to be honest. Honesty does pour from each story; viewers read about hopes and dreams never fulfilled and about money and jobs, broken families and broken bones. A particularly touching story was the one that Dickens suggested should be the beginning of the gallery tour. Jim Hoyt, Sr. is the town’s only postman. It seems he leads a simple life … until you read his story. Filled with heartbreak, war wounds, death, family tragedy, he becomes far more than the local postman. He is a hero to his country and his wife is still his best friend.

Peter Feldstein, portraits of Iowa Honn in 1984 and 2005. Images: courtesy of the artist

Dark secrets become illuminated through The Oxford Project text. A woman named Brianne Leckness (née Bobbi Jo Kirkwood) reveals her past from a rough beginning with her biological “carnie” parents through foster homes and now living together with her several boyfriends and their children. A buck skinner-turned-gospel-minister, John Honn shows up with wild stories of chasing game and speaking in tongues. His mother is portrayed in this exhibition as well, and her name is Iowa — born and raised Oxford. Mindy Portwood was also born in Oxford and wants to settle down there as well, but there aren’t many jobs for third grade teachers.

Peter Feldstein, portraits of Mindy Portwood in 1984 and 2005. Images: courtesy of the artist

Cultural philosophy of small towns, 1984 fashion (and those of 2005-2007, for that matter), personal biographical snapshots of small-town-America, and developments in photographic technology are all present in this massive undertaking to record a not-so-simple Oxford, Iowa. This moving journey through approximately 20 years of American history will reassure you that: we all get a little shorter with old age; we are totally different and lead very private lives but are very much the same — and everyone knows everything about everyone; that not all small-town residents are Republican or Christian; that we all love and are loved at some point; and most of all that we want to make a human connection and tell our own unique complicated stories. Oxford, we now know your secrets ,but just like family, we love you anyway.

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