CULTURE BOOK 2014

An American Portrait

The largest camera ever built will travel to 50 American cultures while celebrating the 200th anniversary of the camera.

Somehow when we think of world cultures,

America is not first in the mix.

It may be that most of our regalia is compartmentalized in ceremony or more private expression, unless it is functional to the lifestyle like cowboys etc.

It is not a given that a culture has any desire to share their world with outsiders like the Amish and some Native tribes, but more and more cultures realize that their problems are becoming too complex and devastating for their communities to handle alone.

The difficult part is to help without changing.

The cultures in this presentation represent a work in progress since the list is ever expanding. We are a colorful lot, rich in folklore, music, dance and history especially when we get past the blue roads of America which is where this project lives.

The journey will be broken down into several trips,

the first beginning in the South Sea islands off the Carolinas with the Gullah Geechee.

We will continue south to Florida with the Cubans, Afro-Cubans, and the Seminole to the Mississippi Delta cultures and then to Louisiana.

From there:

we will zig-zag between the Mississippi valley and the Rocky Mountain foothills until we reach the Badlands.

We will then head west to Washington State and up the West coast to Alaska. .

The final leg will begin in Nova Scotia, down through

New England to Pennsylvania, Appalachia and then head west toward Chicago to have a local exhibit celebrating the 100 year anniversary of “The Great Migration”.

1916 is when thousands of ex-slaves emigrated up the Mississippi Valley to the south-side of Chicago to form “The Black Metropolis” or what is called Bronze ville.

This 100 year anniversary coincides with the 200th anniversary of the camera.

There are over 500 Native American tribes in

North America. This presents an potential problem in representation. To address this we will visit regions where tribes have similar physiognomy and customs.

A simplest breakdown would be: The Inuit, the northern most tribe, the plains Indians in the Black Hills area, The Navajo, Hopi and the Pueblo tribes such as the Taos Indians, the Apache near the Mexican boarder, the Comanche in Texas and East to the Cherokee and Eastern tribes.

As we focus on a culture, the primary thread will be the portraits,

but with our documentaries, we will be able to complete the picture showing life-style, work, relationships and landscape. This spread illustrates what we can capture in the Appalachia region.

Appalachia

Cowboys and Mountain-Men are solid, passionate people proud of their history and lifestyle.

The New Amish look the same but are a little more accessible to photography, and sharing their stories.

Our “Greatest Generation”is all but gone. There are no more Navajo “Code Talkers” and just a few Medal of Honor recipients from WWII still alive. As we travel we will try to film and photograph as many as we can. This will be for our “Heroes” section.

Among these people are our military people, of course, and other groups like “Survivors,” interned cultures like the Japanese, Italians and Germans.

During the depression Mexicans were expelled from the country, back to Mexico, but they were drafted for WWII even from Mexico.

Not one failed to report for duty even after being thrown out of the country. Theey were called “The Ghost Soldiers.”

There are many other ethnic cultures not included here that will be filled in when pre-producing the trip.

The working number is 50 different cultures, most ethnic but others by activity like cowboys etc. The object is to present the diversity of our country through the different ethnic groups as well as specific lifestyles.