Musical accompaniment: Can the Circle Be Unbroken by the Carter Family.

 

I mentioned photographer Bayard Morgan Wootten the other day. I love her photographs of the working poor on farms and by the water in the Carolinas. The people had deep roots there and really belonged to the place where they lived–they couldn’t have been transplanted somewhere else and wouldn’t want to be. Part of me really envies their sense of belonging and especially their ability to make and do things with their hands.

Today I’m highlighting some of the older people she photographed.  You’ll see many are still hard at work! The lines on their faces tell us the expressions they are in the habit of making, just as the way they stand or sit tells us something about them too. One other thing I notice in these pictures is that their clothes don’t have any holes or tears. They’re well worn, but they’re hemmed or patched neatly.

Paring apples:

Fixing a boat at the Charleston harbor:

Knife sharpening. I have an idea this was a man with a sense of humor. He probably liked to joke around.

Another elderly fellow smoking his pipe.  He’s got a very interesting face but it’s difficult to read.

Carding and spinning in Penland, North Carolina. Look how slender they are and how straight their posture is! Like soldiers. I’m always working on my posture but I despair of ever getting close to this. It takes a lot of discipline. Do you suppose they are twins?

Elderly man with beautiful white hair and tragic eyes.