The Face of Appalachia: Portraits from the Mountain Farm [Hardcover]

Tim Barnwell (Author), George Tice (Author), Sam Gray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2003

A world we have lost, in beautiful photographs and moving words.

Life in the steep hills of Appalachia has changed more in the last twenty years than in the previous two hundred. Long a region of farmers, burley tobacco, cattle, copious gardens, durable traditions, and hard-working families, it has become a region of retirees, developers, young urban escapees, and new highways. Aware of the transformation, Tim Barnwell set out to document the lives of the people in the land he grew up in. His sensitive portraits, landscapes, and farm scenes, and his penetrating oral histories give us an entrée into a life characterized by straightforward joys, hardships, isolation, and independence. It is a way of life we will not see again. 100 duotone photographs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tim Barnwell's images have appeared in dozens of magazines, including Time and Newsweek, and are in many permanent collections, among them the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the High Museum in Atlanta. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1ST edition (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393057879
• ISBN-13: 978-0393057874
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #627,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, truthful portrayal of Appalachia, November 29, 2003

By 

Earl Carson (Harlan, Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Face of Appalachia: Portraits from the Mountain Farm (Hardcover)

Wow! What can I say. This is one beautiful book. I'm 70 and grew up living this lifestyle. I still have a farm here in Kentucky. Finally there is someone who "gets it" and shows Appalachia as it really is. Mr. Barnwell understands the people and connects with them. Through touching photographs and captivating conversations he portrays the heart and soul of the region and it's people. You know, this is how people across this great country used to live, it's just that it hung on here longer due to the isolation. So if you want to see how you father, mother, grandparents, and great grandparents lived, take a look at this book. It is one of a kind from what I've seen. I can identify with every scene, but I think folks everywhere can too, even if they weren't raised here. I think great pictures can transcend culture and be meaningful to anyone with an appreciation of life. It's one of the prettiest done books I've seen as well-great print quality and design. Folks will look back on this a hundred years from now and realize what a masterpiece of work Mr. Barnwell has created, capturing this life the way he did. I highly recommend it!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Face of Appalachia-One Terrific Photo Book, November 17, 2003

By 

Mark Rickman (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Face of Appalachia: Portraits from the Mountain Farm (Hardcover)

This new book is a one-of-a kind masterpiece of photographic work. There are a hundred or so photographs and they show a true view of life in the Appalachian region. They are timeless and haunting. There is a wonderful section in the back called "Oral Histories" where each person photographed tells a story about their life-which is captivating in itself. That, combined with the top-notch photographs, makes this a unique treat-beautiful images and intriguing stories from real lives. It will appeal to photographers and non-photographers alike. The images look like they could have been taken in the 1940's, but are from the last 25 years or so. Mr. Barnwell obviously spent much time getting to know these people, even being invited into their homes to record private moments in their lives. They are not the stereotypical views most photographers from outside the area do, or the exploitive poor-white-trash portrayed by other photographers like Shelby Lee Adams. But they are not simply a romantic view of days gone by, either. Rather they capture the true heart and soul of these amazing people-showing the beauty and the flaws in unflinching detail. The images are not only stunning but extremely well reproduced. The book is well organized, beautifully designed, and has wonderful production qualities. It's also a bargain compared to prices of similar quality photo books I've bought.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barnwell's Magnificent Portraits, December 11, 2004

By 

Michael More "CAMERA ARTS" (Santa Fe, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Face of Appalachia: Portraits from the Mountain Farm (Hardcover)

The quiet pictures in Tim Barnwell's The Face of Appalachia are full of small revelations. Ernest Rector, a fiercely intense elderly man, glares at the camera. One arm supports a large portrait of Jesus. The other cradles a framed magazine cover showing Johnny Cash with his wife, June Carter. You'd think he was encircling his family.

"When Bill Taylor was sick," Rector recalls, "a bunch of us went over to his place and shucked and put up seven hundred bushels of corn so his hogs would have something to eat over the winter. We didn't get a penny for it, and didn't expect it either. ...Today, if you were dying of thirst, you couldn't get a man to give you a drink of water for less than a dollar."

That story has nothing-and everything-to do with that picture. It's one of 85 brief oral histories Bramwell has appended to the more than 100 duotone portraits and landscapes here. This captivating book makes you wish more photographers wrote down what the people they picture have to say.

Barnwell's studious, scrupulous achievement is worth a long look.