The Appalachian Photographs of Earl Palmer - Hardcover

by Jean Haskell Speer (Author)

For more than fifty years mountain-born Earl Palmer traveled the Southern Appalachians with his camera, recording his personal vision of the mountain people and their heritage. Over these year he created, in several thousand photographs, a distinctive body of work that affirms a traditional image of Appalachia-a region of great natural beauty inhabited by a self-sufficient people whose lives are notable for simplicity and harmony. For this book, Jean Haskell Speer has selected more than 120 rep

Front Jacket

For more than fifty years mountain-born Earl Palmer traveled the Southern Appalachians with his camera, recording his personal vision of the mountain people and their heritage. Over these year he created, in several thousand photographs, a distinctive body of work that affirms a traditional image of Appalachia -- a region of great natural beauty inhabited by a self-sufficient people whose lives are notable for simplicity and harmony.

For this book, Jean Haskell Speer has selected more than 120 representative photographs from Palmer's collection and has written a biographical and critical commentary based on extensive interviews with the photographer. The photographs portray the Appalachian landscape and the rich variety of traditional mountain culture. They convey a sense not just of historic moment but of mythic quality.

In the introduction, Speer weaves together Palmer's upbringing and education, his moral and aesthetic training, his photographic mentors, and cultural influences on his work. She relates his work to accepted definitions of documentary photography and to issues of truth and objectivity in photography. Palmer's photographs, Speer argues, are not documentary in the ordinary sense, but are nonetheless significant cultural statements. They depict not so much a geographical region as a particular idea of Appalachia.

Earl Palmer's photographs posess their own power and visual appeal and may be enjoyed for that reason alone. But combined in this book with a critical analysis and context, they become a valuable cultural commentary on the Appalachian region -- a unique resource for students and scholars.

Author Biography

Jean Haskell Speer is emerita director of the Appalachian Studies Program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.