To create a year-long photographic documentation of people at work in a small rural Kansas town. Fourteen towns in the state were chosen as partner sites for The Way We Worked, the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit showcasing 150 years of labor in America. Of those towns, only Blue Rapids added to the historical record by undertaking a 12-month effort to capture the diversity of people and labor within a modern community. Approximately 45,000 photos were taken during that time; 80 were chosen for the gallery. It was a privilege working with the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kansas Humanities Council, the Blue Rapids Historical Society, and, above all, the wonderful people of our adopted prairie town.
dispatchesfromkansas 