Re: [Leica] Pultz's PAW 9/30/02

[Carl Pultz <cpultz@earthlink.net>]

Michael Gerard wrote,

"I like the photo essay you are building here. As a native of New
Hampshire who grew up in an old mill town, I can picture the places you refer
to in your captions. Have you read Rick Russo's novels, "Mohawk," "The Risk
Pool," and "Nobody's Fool"? All are set in down-on-their-luck upstate New
York towns, and capture well the settings and characters that live on there."

Thanks, Michael. I haven't read Russo, but I'll check him out. I loved Kurt 
Vonnegut's "Hokus Pokus", which was set in an Upstate college town, like 
Ithaca or Geneseo. Could just as well have been in NE somewhere.

It's not like all of these areas are dirt poor. It's not like Alabama or 
Mississippi, where (I'm told) there are whole counties of grinding poverty. 
Nor is there the wholesale gentrification that southern NH was had. There 
are some successful small businesses, by outward appearance, and many well 
kept, middle class homes, likely the property of skillful, wise and lucky 
folks who now have a decent income of pension, Social Security and ERAs.

What grabs me is that small scale prosperity no longer benefits the 
communities. Beyond the incidental purchases that might go to Debbie's Hair 
Zoo, the real money goes to Walmart or some chain convenience store, or to 
a catalog merchant. Where once it would have been a house in town that was 
a showcase, and uplifted all the properties around it, the jewels are now 
spread out along the blue highways, independent, individual, end products 
of the culture of self-reliance. They don't reflect any glory on the shacks 
and trailers spread out among them.

I should save it for the Guggenheim essay, if there still is such a 
thing.....but it'll be a challenge to put those sorts of observations into 
pictures.

Best regards,

Carl

P.S. I think the reaching for an apple picture is really cool.

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