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One sweltering summer day in 1984 my friend Peter Feldstein walked up and down the streets of Oxford, Iowa, posting fliers announcing he would take anyone's picture, free. At the time, 676 people lived in Oxford, and he wanted to make a photograph of every single one of them.
He set up a makeshift studio in an empty storefront across the street from where he lived. The first day, nobody showed up. Then some elementary-school students came by, then a retired couple, then a few more folks. After Peter photographed Al Sheets, a member of the local American Legion chapter, Sheets returned with 75 legionnaires and their families, and Peter's project took off.
He asked people to dress as they would on a typical Saturday afternoon. Clarence Schropp wore his wife's wig, and Calvin Colony brought his 300-pound pet lion, but mostly people were, well, themselves. Over three months, Peter photographed 670 people—a unique portrait of an American town, as comprehensive as any ever attempted.
Peter exhibited the pictures at the Legion hall in Oxford, and that was that. He filed the negatives away in a metal cabinet and went on teaching photography at the University of Iowa.
Last year, I suggested to Peter that he photograph the same people. Of course, many had died and some had moved away in the intervening 21 years. But most still live in Oxford. At last count, he had photographed more than 100 of them.
Peter didn’t pose them or even show them their original pictures. Yet Mary Ann Carter still tilted her head to the left, her hands cupped neatly at her side. Jim Jiras still wore his seed cap angled to the right. Pat Henkelman still leaned slightly to the left. Tim and Mike Hennes clasped their hands just the way they did before.
Many of the Oxfordians today are shorter or heavier or both. Some are stooped. Several cannot walk or breathe unassisted. Teeth are missing. At least three farmers have lost fingers. Electric smiles have dimmed. But there are also men and women in the radiance of life, exuberant, just coming into their prime.
Peter invited me to work with him. "Ask Oxford people to share their stories with you," he said. By now I’ve conducted dozens of interviews. Some people talk about religion, others about relationships gone bad. Some break down in tears, recalling incidents they had not, or rarely, acknowledged before. There is a great deal of courage in what people say. The language of not just a few is pure poetry.
My husband Ben and I moved to Oxford 10/01/2007 via Chicago via New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina .Our Friend's the Attias family moved here after katrina as well and introduced us to the town of Oxford .We are all opening a restaurant that will be open lunch dinner and brunch on Saturday and Sunday .It will be the only full service restaurant in town called ,Augusta.This is our dream and thank you to nice people of Oxford who have been very welcoming it will come true .We want this town to live on .We plan on our future here and are very happy to be here.Thank you Peter for your project.We are ready to have our picture taken .
Posted by Jeri Satinsky/Halperin on December 3,2007 | 12:37PM
I lived in Oxford from 1978 through 1983. At that time there was a cafe that seemed to be open only occasionally, a small grocery & a couple of bars... My neighbors were friendly, a walk in the country was possible day or night, the air smelled great except when the wind blew in from the Quaker Oats plant, but the best happening in town was the sale barn. The lunches served there were pure Iowa Heaven! Did I mention that I gain thirty pounds in those five years? It's great to hear that Oxford is thriving, and retaining it's small town identity rather than turning into a suburb of Iowa City.
Posted by louise champlin on September 23,2008 | 12:43PM