Commentary

In the late 1950s and early ’60s, the coalfields of Eastern Kentucky were locked in the grip of an economic collapse almost as savage as the Great Depression. Mechanization and dwindling demand for coal killed off thousands of mining jobs in an area where no other jobs were to be had. But few Americans knew or – truth to tell – cared. To see Andrew Stern’s photographs today is to be forcefully carried back to a moment in time when miners’ children were going to school without food and men thought they were lucky to get work in a murderous doghole for a few dollars a day, a few days a month. But there is more to these photographs than simple documentation, powerful as it is. Like the very best of the Farm Security Administration photographs from the 1930s, there is nothing patronizing about Stern’s images. They are stunning in the obvious respect he has for his subjects. He meets them at eye level and gives them the gift of immortality.

A personal note:  This was the Eastern Kentucky that I encountered when I first arrived in 1963 and began reporting for Tom and Pat Gish at The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, embarking on an editorial relationship that continues to this day. Andrew Stern saw the destitution and the hope, the desperation and the grit, the exhaustion and the beauty – the entire fabric – and captured it better, I think, than anyone else.

—Thomas N. Bethell, Journalist, Washington, D.C.

 

 

When I first saw Andrew Stern’s photographs of Appalachia, I knew this was a treasure trove of work. There is an honesty and directness here, a sense that the hard times live on that was documented in the 1930’s by the likes of Dorothea Lange and Russell Lee. This glimpse into these peoples lives in the midst of the 1950’s culture of “Leave it to Beaver” and “Ozzie and Harriet” recalls the irony of glamorous Hollywood billboards in broken towns seen by Walker Evans during the great depression. There is simple human empathy in this work. It is neither judgmental nor voyeuristic. I believe it is a remarkable group of photographs and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the ongoing human struggle of the people of Appalachia.

—Stephen Johnson, Photographer & Author