Peter FeldsteinReseñas

A wonderful look at the individuals in the town of Oxford, Iowa, with photographs of every resident in the 1980s and again in 2006. Not just for small town lovers like me ... Highly recommend.

I read a description of this book on my library site and loved the premise. In 1984, a photographer takes a single picture of almost every resident of his small town, Oxford, Iowa (pop 693, he photographed 670). Twenty years later, he goes back and takes another picture. He found almost everyone, about one-hundred people had died, and another hundred had moved.

For the second round of photos, a friend, author Stephen G. Bloom, interviewed about one-hundred of the residents. They were quite surprised by the candor, and lack of self-consciousness of the residents. I’m astounded by the sense of satisfaction the people have with their lives. Though quite a few express regrets at not having gone to college they all seem to be at peace with whatever this life has given them. I wonder if the small town support system accounts for the connectedness and contentment they exhibit.

I looked through the book, read their stories and felt deeply connected to them. As with Finding Grace: The Face of America’s Homeless, it seems to be the mere action of being noticed and acknowledged is what compels them to open up.

Bloom relates this feeling also, “The more Peter and I listened, the more we realized we’d become confessors to an unheard and invisible America.”

I wonder if the quality of peoples lives can be improved by being acknowledged in some way? This is interesting to me. How you can change situation, people’s outlook, their world view by seeing them, listening to them, acknowledging their existence?

I was charmed by this book, with all the then-and-now pictures of the citizens of Oxford, Iowa. What a neat project! I enjoyed the candid bios of some of the people, as well.

The Oxford Project; with its photos of the residents of Oxford, Iowa first in 1984 and then twenty years later, contains within its pages a unique way to look at the population of a small town in America. The first set of photos were taken without writing down the people's stories, it was more of a photo-mosaic of the town. When the second group of photos was taken twenty years later there was an interviewer present to write down whatever the people had to say.

The updated photos reflect the inevitable changes of the passage of twenty years. Everyone gets older, most gain at least a little bit of weight, and some die in the interim. The reader learns from the interviews that some love small town life (especially those whose families have lived in the town for generations) and some can't stand it. Some are liberal, some conservative; some religious, some not. In other words, it reflects the differences and similarities that are present in small towns across America.

I thought it was interesting that the author said that some of the statements made by the people sounded a little bit like tall tales. I kept that in mind as I read the stories, but there were only a few that made me think that there might have been some exaggeration on the behalf of the interviewee.

There was one man who was so blatantly racist that it shocked me. Those racist attitudes are not something that I run into often in my day to day life, and it was a good reminder that people with those beliefs and attitudes are still out there.

Especially sad were the photos that didn't have updates because the people in those photos had passed away. Some of the original photos were accompanied by the personal stories of their loved ones. In this way it was a good representation of the realities of life - people are born, age and die, and we just hope that they don't die before their time.

One thing that the author noted, that I enjoyed looking for in the photos, was how people would pose in almost the exact same manner that they had in the original photos, down to the way that they held their fingers or tilted their head. I guess some things don't really change.

If you have any interest in photo books, or the sociological makeup of small town America, then you should like this book.

This is a lovely exercise- Feldstein photographed everyone in his little town, then twenty years later did it again. This large format book has the black and white photos side by side, with little autobiographical paragraphs accompanying most photos. It's a cross-section of small-town America that is both illuminating and touching. Highly recommended.

An interesting book, with beautiful photographs and even lovelier text. The reviewers below did a fine job, and I agree with most of them. I really found myself taken in by the citizens of Oxford.½

The premise: take the photographs Peter Feldstein shot in 1984 of (virtually) every resident of small-town Oxford, Iowa, couple them with new photos of everyone taken in 2005, and add short biographies. The result: proof that “everybody has a story.”

I enjoyed the photographs -- the ways people changed over 21 years, the way some posed exactly as they had decades earlier. But I loved the bios -- the quotes, actually, drawn from interviews conducted by writer Stephen Bloom:

More {people} than I would have expected broke down in tears and confessed life stories seldom acknowledged. Many talked about relationships gone bad. Several revealed they were victims of domestic abuse or had weathered infidelities. A few exaggerated facts, boasting about events that I doubt ever occurred. A number of people confided great regrets and profound sorrows. Often their words came out slowly and methodically, other times they poured forth in jags and torrents. The language of not just a few was pure poetry.

Among the ~700 residents there in the middle of flyover country is Jim Hoyt, “the last living of the first four American soldiers who liberated Buchenwald concentration camp.”

And Pat Henkelman, whose husband left their 45-year marriage: “I didn’t know who the {other} woman was, but everyone else in town did. I would have felt better if she was young and beautiful, but she wasn’t.”

Vince Grabin, whose wife is in a nursing home: "I try to see her every day. They don't allow visitors to eat with residents, so I bring a sandwich and eat it in her room."

Marguerite Stockman, whose son was working in a cornfield at night: “The cornhusks got caught in the picker and he reached in and got one of his hands stuck. Then he reached in with the other and that hand got caught. He stayed there overnight. In the morning, a neighbor boy ran across the field and found him. They took him to the hospital and removed both his hands at mid-forearm. He still has his elbows.”

Auctioneer Jim Jiras: “I took a two-week home course. You learn how to say all kinds of things: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Sally sells seashells by the seashore. A skunk sat on a stump. The stump thought the skunk stunk. The skunk thought the stump stunk. What stunk? The skunk or the stump? I got pretty good at it.”

And Bob Tandy, whose first daughter died as a newborn: “The doctors believed she died of placental abruption, which is a Latin term for Bad Fucking Luck. {…We} now have a year-and-half-old daughter. Her name is Isabella Noel, which means Beautiful Gift.”

This is like no other book I have ever read before. In 1984 Peter Feldstein took a picture of ever resident of the tiny town of Oxford, Iowa. In 2007 he took pictures again. Feldstein asked people to tell their stories in their own words. The book presents old and new photos along with their subjects' stories.

What emerges is the collective portrait of a small town. Oxford is a place where people stay for generations. The collected stories show just how much tragedy and suffering regularly afflicts human beings. It is evident how strongly people crave connections to others. Poverty affects many in Oxford. Young marriage is the norm, and many are married in their teens with children following shortly thereafter. Many regret lack of college education.

Oxford is an entirely different place from anywhere I have ever lived. I wonder how much of the country is still like Oxford. For everyone who bemoans the decline of close-knit community, the Oxford example suggests that people who live in such places are not necessarily any more or less happy than their big-city counterparts. I'd be interested to know more about the people who have left Oxford. They are not included in the book, and that is a side of the town's story that is missing.

I originally thought I would feature The Oxford Project in my regular Over the Counter post on Thursdays. But as I started glancing through it, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop, so I signed it out and took it home. And I was right - I sat and read it in one sitting.

What is The Oxford Project? Photographer Peter Feldstein moved to tiny Oxford, Iowa in 1965. In 1984, he had the idea to photograph every person living in Oxford. (population 693) And twenty years later he photographed them again. (population 705) Writer Stephen G. Bloom interviewed about 100 of the townsfolk and their stories are included with their 'then' and 'now' shots.

The photographs are raw and untouched as are the stories told. Honest and real. I felt privileged to be let into someones life in such an intimate fashion. The collection of photos and stories paints a vivid picture of a town and the people living within its boundaries. Just everyday people getting on with life.

I think that Bloom says it very well: " Despite its withered exterior, Oxford, and the countless towns like it across the United States, continue to hold fiercely to their roots. They remain, in many ways, like large protective families, insulated and untouched by the energy and vulgarity of urban America. Peter's portraits of the residents of Oxford and their own deeply felt words combine to create a national portrait of over-looked triumphs and travails. In the faces and voices of these strangers, we grow to understand ourselves better. They remind us of who we dreamed we would become, and who we turned out to be."

I found myself thinking of the residents of Oxford long after I turned the last page. Just a fantastic idea and book. Loved it.

This is a unique look at photographs of the residents of Oxford, Iowa, from 1984 and 20 years later. The resident's stories are true, some heartwarming and some tragic, but real life in a small rural mid-western town.

This project interested me because I am a native Iowan and it is eye opening to see the real heart and soul of this country and how sometimes time stands still when life goes on.

Very interesting coffee table book. More than one person to my house has commented on it...excellent photographs. Looking at the lives of the residents of Oxford, Iowa and how the people changed over the 25 year interval was fascinating -- and poignant. Easy to get lost in the photos and the stories...

Great photos, but rather bleak life stories.

This book was fascinating to me on many levels. In it, we get a glimpse of the lives of people who live in a small town in Iowa over a 20-year time period. The book started as a two-part project of a man named Peter Feldstein who took pictures of many of the people who lived in his town. He took pictures of them in 1984 and then again 20 years later. After he had taken the second group of pictures he had writer Stephen Bloom interview and transcribe the life stories of 100 of the people he had photographed. It plucked at my heartstrings because it brought back many memories of the small town where I raised my own kids over 20 years. This book was a monumental undertaking but one worth it 1000 times over.

This book was absolutely amazing. My husband checked it out of the library and at first I wasn't really interested in it, until he started reading some of the stories. That sparked my interest and I went back and pour myself into it. It was an amazing undertaking, and I loved the photography, but most of all, I loved the pure, heart felt, and revealing insights into these people's lives. After I finished it, I felt like I knew the entire town of Oxford personally.

This book is just so fascinating!

In 1984, Peter Feldstein decided to photograph everyone in his town of Oxford, Iowa. He thought it would be interesting and over time was able to get all 676 people photographed. He took all full-length photos with equal lights on each side. These pictures were not great artistically. What was interesting was the variety of the townsfolk, their similarities and differences. He had a few gallery shows at the time.

In 2005, Mr. Feldstein again photographed these folks - or at least as many of the original 676 he could find. Can you imagine those phone calls? He again took full-length photos, this time outside next to a gray wall.

What is the most fascinating about this book and the project is the stories of the people photographed. Mr. Feldstein asked writer Stephen Bloom to talk with about 100 of the people after they were photographed. He got them to tell their life story since 1984, summarized their stories; wrote in first person and made sure each person was okay with what he wrote.

These people are ordinary people yet they are so interesting! Each one has a unique story that is all their own. It is just fascinating to read life stories in short snippets, to see how their bodies have changed over time, and to see how the families have combined and divided.

What struck me is thinking about applying this project in any town or city. Would we find the same uniqueness in each individual's story? I think the answer is 'Of course'! I mean, this is a small town! And yet each person has made different choices, had different life events that shaped them into unique individuals which make up such an interesting town! Just imagine how bigger towns or ones with different life options would provide other unique stories.

But I also noted how similar these folks are to ones I know here or grew up with. Or went to college with. Maybe they look different or have different life options, but the similarities are there across the nation.

Again, it's fascinating to study this book, these people. To delve into a life story told in words and pictures. I will be sharing this book with everyone who comes to my house. You need to get a copy!

I loved this book so much. The photography is wonderful - showing regular people as they really are (not dressed up for some special occasion) - and the biographical stories that accompany them give you are real taste of the individuals photographed and of small town life.

More thoughts here: http://somewhatbookish.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/the-oxford-project/

In 1984 photographer Peter Feldstein took pictures of almost every resident of his hometown, Oxford, Iowa – population 676. Twenty years later, he re-photographed them. Postville author Stephen G. Bloom interviewed 100 of them, sharing their lives – struggles, successes and suprises. Publisher Lena Tabori and staff put it all togther in a stunning and captivating layout.

A coffee table book that will lead to many discussions, The Oxford Project is also a book to read cover to cover. It is a record of humanity during the last years of the 20th century. Everyone will find something of themselves in the people of Oxford.