The Amish are considered to be the most traditional group of people in the United States. Yet, they are a group that I only knew about through Wikipedia and pop culture before I started this project. After traveling thousands of miles over the course of four months, I have been to eight Amish communities in and around Kansas. I talked with them about their trades, their families, and their beliefs. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to photograph these groups as well.
I think a lot of people are enticed by the Amish and the simple lives they live. That was something I wanted to explore especially as someone who uses technology in all aspects of my life. After reflecting on my time with the Amish though, my admiration is not about “reverting back to simpler times” or “living in a world without the internet”. It is about the sense of community that the Amish work to preserve. They avoid showing their faces in photographs not because they are afraid the camera is going to steal their soul. They travel by horse and buggy not because they fear accepting new technology. They do these things to maintain community and to reject selfishness. They don’t want to be in posed photographs because they see it as promoting individuality. They use horses and buggies because if they had a car, they could go anywhere they wanted, damaging the integrity of the collective. Many families actually have phones, but they are in small buildings away from their homes, so they do not use them more than they need to. Everything is about maintaining the communal tradition.
Just as the Amish work hard to maintain a sense of community, I worked hard to track down these communities. Through Google Street View, property tax searches, academic writings, and a whole lot of driving, I was able to find and talk to dozens of Amish people about their crafts and culture. This photographic series is not about manual labor, working with technological limitations, or the types of work Amish people do. It is simply a jumping off point for discussion about centering community in our lives.
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I think a lot of people are enticed by the Amish and the simple lives they live. That was something I wanted to explore especially as someone who uses technology in all aspects of my life. After reflecting on my time with the Amish though, my admiration is not about “reverting back to simpler times” or “living in a world without the internet”. It is about the sense of community that the Amish work to preserve. They avoid showing their faces in photographs not because they are afraid the camera is going to steal their soul. They travel by horse and buggy not because they fear accepting new technology. They do these things to maintain community and to reject selfishness. They don’t want to be in posed photographs because they see it as promoting individuality. They use horses and buggies because if they had a car, they could go anywhere they wanted, damaging the integrity of the collective. Many families actually have phones, but they are in small buildings away from their homes, so they do not use them more than they need to. Everything is about maintaining the communal tradition.
Just as the Amish work hard to maintain a sense of community, I worked hard to track down these communities. Through Google Street View, property tax searches, academic writings, and a whole lot of driving, I was able to find and talk to dozens of Amish people about their crafts and culture. This photographic series is not about manual labor, working with technological limitations, or the types of work Amish people do. It is simply a jumping off point for discussion about centering community in our lives.
