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Though artistic and ambitious, Paul Kwilecki (1928-2009) chose to remain in Bainbridge, Georgia, the small Decatur County town where he was born, raised, and ran the family's hardware store. He had always been interested in photography and taught himself how to use a camera. Over four decades, he documented life in his community, making hundreds of masterful and intimate black-and-white prints.
Kwilecki developed his visual ideas in series of photographs of high school proms, prison hog killings, shade-tree tobacco farming, factory work, church life, the courthouse. He also wrote eloquently about the people and places he so poignantly depicted, and in this book his unique knowledge is powerfully articulated in more than 200 photographs and selected prose.
Paul Kwilecki worked alone, his correspondence with important photographers his only link to the larger art world. Despite this isolation, Kwilecki's work became widely known. "Decatur County is home," he said, "and I know it from my special warp, having been both nourished and wounded by it."
Publisher : The University of North Carolina Press; Illustrated edition (April 9, 2013)
Language : English
Hardcover : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 1469607409
ISBN-13 : 978-1469607405
Item Weight : 4.08 pounds
Dimensions : 10.25 x 1 x 10.25 inches
Reviewer: slproctor
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: âOftentimes the print would have been much better untouched by human hands
Review: Iâve always believed in the sentiment that; a picture is worth a thousand words. Iâve always amended it to include, interpretation and untold emotion â A picture is worth a thousand emotions. For it is in the beholder to know what has been conveyed.Between the pages of this remarkable book, Kwilecki writes to his mentor, âOftentimes the print would have been much better untouched by human hands; I can see now that much of what Iâve done has been heavy-handed and dismal from too much determination to make the image like I think it ought to look, rather than seeing the thing as it is and using imagination and inventiveness to modify reality within the possibilities of photography. Fortunately, I hope, this is confined to my printing work and not my seeing at the time of making the negative.âOver a lifetime of capturing the essence of Decatur County, Georgia, I believe Kwilecki accomplished something rare. He gave us just enough information to understand the subject matter, but left so much more for us to interpret.He divides his work into sections â ordinary people doing ordinary things, the town, cemetery, courthouse, weddings, baptisms, prisoners. His imagery and narrative of shade tobacco farms enthralled me. I had never heard of, or seen shade tobacco (also called Cheesecloth Tobacco) â tobacco grown with cheesecloth shades â four walls and a roof of cheesecake, to intensify the heat from the sun without burning the leaves â the leaves used exclusively as the outer leaves of a fine cigar.One Place and Four Decades of Photographs from Decatur County, Georgia has a permanent place in my library, heart, and imagination.
Reviewer: Brian Brown
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Paul Kwilecki Gets His Due!
Review: Paul Kwilecki is likely the best Georgia photographer youâve never heard of. In my opinion, heâs the greatest native-born photographer in Georgia history. After selling his familyâs hardware business in Bainbridge he took up photography full-time, but as a self-taught photographer he was often isolated from the larger art world. That proved to be a good thing, as this beautiful new book will attest. For nearly forty years he photographed the people and places of Decatur County and did so with an eye not turned on Georgia in such a grand way since the FSA photographers of the Great Depression. Though he published one book in his lifetime (Understandings: Photographs of Decatur County, Georgia; UNC Press, Chapel Hill, 1981) and had hoped to see this one to print before his death, One Place will go far in establishing his place not only in Georgia and Southern photography, but in the larger canon of American documentary work. Iâm lucky to have briefly corresponded with Mr. Kwilecki before his death and he was a real gentleman, encouraging me to pursue my own passion for photography.If youâre a fan of photography, you will want to purchase this book, or request it at your local library. Tom Rankin, who directs Duke Universityâs wonderful Center for Documentary Studies, edited the work and draws from his association with the photographer, as well as Kwileckiâs own descriptions of his work.Brian Brownvia Vanishing South Georgia[...]
Reviewer: Joe A.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: He was a good man with a great eye for the world around ...
Review: I am proud to say that I knew Paul and his work. He was a good man with a great eye for the world around him. Decatur county is a wonderful place to raise a family. I have been gone for 8 years now but still think about it every day. Paul's book brings back my memories of this county.
Reviewer: Walter Ray Davis Jr.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: useful history of small town Georgia
Review: lovely photographs
Reviewer: Charles D. Colburn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Snapshot in time
Review: This book is an excellent example of photo anthropology. It a unique and fascinating view of people and places. I highly recommend it for photographers
Reviewer: Pablito
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Gorgeous Book
Review: This is a book that touches your heart. So much to be said for sticking in ONE PLACE. Beautifully printed, too.
Reviewer: cammilla48
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: a beautifully done book
Review: had lots of aunts and uncles and cousins in Bainbridge. the photos show the town i remember, fondly. wish i could have had one relative in the book, but despite that, the book is a perfect vehicle for my childhood memories.