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- Description:
“The Heartland - Lives of Tradition”
Photographs By Charles W. Guildner
In 1990, I began photographing the landscape and the lives of the people of the rural heartland, primarily spanning Montana, Wyoming, Colorado & Nebraska. Born and raised in Nebraska, drawn to my “Roots”, this project has developed into a quest to record and express my vision of the many “Lives of Tradition” that I find as I travel and network across the country.
The core of this project is finding and recording ordinary people who are living and working in some ways that have changed little since the settling of the heartland of this country. This has brought me to the study of farmers and ranchers and small rural communities where the people are living these “lives of tradition.” Many of these lifestyles are shrinking in numbers, so it is interesting to find people whose lives seem grounded in tradition, who find their vitality in long standing ways of living. How long many of these traditional ways will continue is uncertain. But the spirit I have found among these people suggests many will continue.
Recently I have developed an interest in the still existing culture of the “Rural School House.” Since the spring of 2002, I have visited over 40 of these remote, rural schools, developing a body of work relating to the lives and traditions of this vanishing culture.
I travel in my pickup truck camper, visiting previous and new locations, following leads, and networking to find new people and places where traditions are sustained. I photograph almost daily for three to four months, beginning in April and returning home in July. The rest of the year is spent working with the new negatives, making museum quality, exhibition prints, corresponding with new leads and making preparations for going “on the road” again.
Each of my images is authentic and real, without setups, without contrivance, resulting in an accurate record of the unique lives and situations I find.
A brief narrative is written about each of my images and accompanies the finished print.