A Vanishing Generation: 44601 and Beyond

Most communities in the United States, even the "free" northern states, contained natural or man-made dividers that separated the races. Alliance, Ohio (44601) the location of the documentary had two railway lines, North-South and East-West, that handled commerce for the area, but, unfortunately, separated its inhabitants. This series of photographs explores the pride of a generation that lived on the "other" side of the tracks. Many of these people made contributions to the success of the Alliance community. For example, one might have been the "first Negro" to be employed by a particular company or in a city government office; thus, directly contributing to removal of segregation barriers. My photographs document people in their retirement. Each image expresses ethic pride and celebration of life. Most individuals were photographed in their daily attire. A white background was purposely used to encourage the viewer to concentrate on each person’s face, or eyes, or gestures. One can easily discern many examples of nonverbal communication between or among the two or three subjects. The project commenced in 1996 concentrating on portraits of subjects against the white background. In 1998, A Vanishing Generation: 44601 coverage expanded in due to dialogue personally with and among the subject gathering for their photo session. Some of the persons had been very active is religious and social organizations. I wanted to document the formal uniforms. Also, I wanted to photograph to further communicate more details regarding the subject and their living environment. I also want to show later perils of life as the subjects enter assisted living centers and face death.