Williamson, Mingo County, West Virginia by Builder Levy. 1971 ©
Appalachia USA. By Builder Levy ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Photography Editor @Blogfinger.net
Builder Levy is a photographer who was born in Tampa, Florida, 1942. He received his BA in Art from Brooklyn College, and over the years his work has appeared in many exhibits and books. He is best known for his work in Appalachia. This image is from his book Appalachia, USA.
Vanity Fair wrote this about him: “Photographer Builder Levy’s Appalachia USA (David R. Godine) does for today’s coal miners what Walker Evans did for sharecroppers and tenant farmers in the Dust Bowl.”
I hadn’t heard of him until I received an announcement of his latest exhibit at Shepherd University’s Scarborough Library in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. I got to view some of his work, all in wonderful black and white. His images are strong and include dramatic scenics as well as portraits.
He is also known for international images (eg Mongolia) and some wonderful photographs in New York City (see link below.) He recently had an exhibit at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.
Recently Hillary Clinton said that she wanted to “put the coal companies and the coal miners out of business.” But if you saw some of Builder Levy’s Appalachia work, you realize that coal mining is a culture and a way of life which will be resistant to change.
BILL MONROE and his BLUEGRASS BOYS “Blue Moon of Kentucky”