Grab Along The Ohio Translated By Andrew Borowiec Contained In Manuscript

took me all ofminutes to get through, The introduction gave a great background into the process of getting these photos, As somebody who is from one of the Ohio Valleys, I appreciated this, Many of the photos were of places that I am familiar with, The black and white photos make it seem like these are visions from thes ors, It shows how depressed the area is compared to so many others, The downfall of the industries along the river have molded these communities into what they are today, From its formation in Pittsburgh to its confluence with the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois, the Ohio River passes through a landscape that is, for photographer Andrew Borowiec, "both exotic and authentically American.
" Borowiec's eighty duotone images explore the cultural landscape of this region, presenting clapboard houses and white picket fences, pickup trucks and rusting sedans, back yards with satellite dishes or with barbecue grills made from fiftyfivegallon oil drums.
The pictures concentrate on the common scenes of everyday life and work, especially in the small, mostly bluecollar towns along the Ohio.
While taking these photographs, Borowiec says, he came to realize that "the region's story was central to America's evolution from colonial wilderness to industrial superpower.
"Along the Ohio illustrates the current condition of a region that was essential to the economic vitality of the United States, Many factories, once a source of prosperity, lie idle, Houses and banks stand boarded up and rusting machinery litters the river's edge, But Borowiec's camera finds a resilient strength, even among deteriorating homescarefully mowed lawns or freshly painted fences are signs that residents still strive for pride and the American Dream, despite their lessthanideal

circumstances.


To take his photographs, Borowiec preferred to walk along back alleys, in the belief that the rear of a house tells more about its residents than they might reveal in their front yard.
Although there are few pictures with people in them, the human presence is evident in all of these photographsthey capture an environment that has been transformed by its residents.
These residents, initiallysuspicious of this man with a camera, peering over fences, soon responded to Borowiec's interest with local legends and suggestions for places to photograph.
In the same way, the photographer clearly grew to identify with his subjectsa fact especially evident in a series of poignant and sympathetic images taken during theflood and its aftermath.


Borowiec observes in the introduction: "The social and economic condition of the Ohio River valley mirrors that of countless places in the United States where people are not as well off as they once were or as they would like to be.
" His photographs constitute an original artistic statement about life in the postindustrial United States, .