Otto Ping: Photographer of Brown County, Indiana, 1900-1940 [Paperback]

W. Douglas Hartley (Author), Stephen J. Fletcher (Author), Anne E. Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994 | ISBN-10: 0871951053 | ISBN-13: 978-0871951052 | Edition: 1st wraps

Otto Ping began taking pictures of the people and places of his native Brown County, Indiana, in 1900. Primarily a portraitist, Ping photographed individuals, couples, family groups, and larger gatherings. His portraits have a documentary quality, and one senses in the faces that peer from these images the determination with which these people met lives of toil and hardship.

Product Details

• Paperback: 95 pages
• Publisher: Indiana Historical Society; 1st wraps edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871951053
• ISBN-13: 978-0871951052
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #793,206 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photo Essays
  • #40 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and Poignant !, December 9, 2006

By 

Lisa G. Arvizu "Lisa Ping Arvizu" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Otto Ping: Photographer of Brown County, Indiana, 1900-1940 (Paperback)

This book is an honest and realistic look at how difficult life was for Midwesterns living in the early 1900's. Otto Ping was one of the first people in Southern Indiana to own a camera. My father and grandfather have always described "Uncle Ott" as fun loving and adventurous. Otto Ping had absolutely no idea how his new toy would end up leaving his legacy. The book will leave the reader with images of the past you will never be able to forget.

Lisa(Ping)Arvizu
Great Niece to Otto Ping

4.0 out of 5 stars *AN "HONEST REPRESENTATION" OF NATIVE HOOSIERS*, January 25, 2006

By 

mcHaiku "nmi" (Brown County INDIANA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Otto Ping: Photographer of Brown County, Indiana, 1900-1940 (Paperback)

If you are someone who never gets excited about looking at other people's photo albums, this book may have little appeal - - but then, you wouldn't be reading this in this first place.

Brown County INDIANA, was slow in its transformation to become an 'electrified' county. Even when building a home in the late 1940s, electricity did not rush up our 'holler' to civilize us. Some of the pictures in this collection could have come from my album, although it may be unique ONLY for the portrait of a friend laying a fine stone foundation for the outhouse!

Douglas Hartley edited the Otto Ping collection for the Indiana Historical Society, making a thoughtful selection for this book that has become a tribute to this county native who doubtless did not realize the importance of "recording the common". Ping began taking portraits at age 17 - to earn money in those very tight times in 1900. He had a mail-order camera and printed pictures from glass-plate negatives. He recorded glimpses of people who endured ongoing hardships - including that of forever being called "backwards."

Among the last pictures shown in the book are two of outstanding cars! Also one of a baptism held in a snowy pond to show the strength of religious conviction to about thirty witnesses huddled nearby. There are also a few pictures of old and young pictured in death, a custom of the times.

Stephen Fletcher served as Indiana Historical Society's curator of visual collections. In his essay for the book he urges readers to "discover the significance that lies beyond the intent of these genuine, regardful, and considered images." Reviewer mcHAIKU will never be considered a native but is moved by the many worn but formidable faces shown in Otto Ping's portraits, and assures readers that there is much satisfaction to be gotten from studying those who carried their burdens with honesty and determination.

5.0 out of 5 stars Shadows of the Past, December 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Otto Ping: Photographer of Brown County, Indiana, 1900-1940 (Paperback)

Otto Ping was an early 20th century photographer, who did work while secluded in the back hills of rural Indiana. His work is noteworthy not only because of his results that are comparable to the work of the famous Dorothea Lange, but also because he was complely self taught in the art and science of the then emerging art form. He had an instictively unerring eye for images which transcend time. The photos speak directly to the modern reader, comments by the well known art historian Douglas Hartley add depth to the book. A wonderful piece of midwestern history.