The book Framing Community: Magnum Photos, 1947-Present edited by Maria Pelizzari Antonella has been an interesting read highlighting the work of a number of photographers with an emphasis on the different communities that they have documented through their work. Recently, as I have engaged more with residents in Central Oregon, it has become clear that the ties of community are extremely strong in these remote, rural towns - Having never live in such a small town myself, it has been arresting to witness the camaraderie between neighbors - particularly evident in manner in which people fought to protect each other’s land against the recent wildfires.   

Framing Community, is broken down in to the subsections - Longing for Community, Shifting Community, Contested Territories and Displaced communities - Each has content that could relate to my current project. Artists discussed include Alec Soth, Jim Goldberg, and Peter Van Agtmael - All of whom had already influenced my practice. The photographer Bieke Depoorter was new to me however, and I feel her approach to creating work - From sleeping in her subject’s homes, to having strangers share their thoughts by writing on her on her images, is highly likely to influence my methodologies moving forward. 

On a recommendation, I have also been reading Kathleen Stewart’s Ordinary Affects - an anthropological study of everyday life in America, primarily told through a series of anecdotal vignettes. This is not something I would usually read, but I have been enjoying this different approach to documenting contemporary American culture.  Many of the short poetic anecdotes resonate with me - Particularly her reference to ‘Still Lifes’  - a static, charged scene which punctuates ordinary life, as I would hope to capture a similar energy in my images.